Kingfisher to reduce planned US flights

Mumbai: Less than a week into its international debut, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has decided to cut the frequencies of some of its proposed non-stop flights to the US, as it struggles to limit potential losses from high jet fuel costs.
The full-service airline, which started international operations on 3 September with daily non-stop flights between Bangalore and London-Heathrow, will still fly non-stop to US cities when it starts on the route in November, but not daily.
“We had originally planned to start daily (non-stop) flights connecting Bangalore to San Francisco,” said a senior executive at Kingfisher Airlines. “Now we will restrict that to three or four flights a week for the time being.”
The Mumbai-based airline was also considering flying to San Francisco from Bangalore with a halt at another international city, so it could combine routes and fill jet fuel in other countries where it is less expensive.
“Stopping at Dubai or Singapore will help us fill jet fuel at 30% cheaper rates compared with India. But there is no going back from the promise of offering non-stop flights to the US,” said the same executive, who didn’t want to be identified.
Jet fuel prices have increased 60% globally since January as crude oil prices rose to more than $147 (Rs6,526.8) a barrel in July, before declining recently to less than $110. Kingfisher had placed orders for five wide-body A340-500 planes, used on long-haul international routes, in early 2006, when crude oil prices were about $60 a barrel.
A long-haul international flight needs at least 18 months to become profitable, according to analyst estimates, but this is becoming tougher to achieve because of the rise in fuel prices.
Kingfisher Airlines is now selling two of the five A340-500 planes it ordered even before taking delivery from aircraft maker Airbus SAS, according to another Kingfisher executive who’s familiar with the development.
07/09/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Categories: Foreign Sep 2008, Kingfisher Sep 2008