Jet, Kingfisher owe Rs 80cr to Air India

New Delhi: Private carriers Jet Airways, promoted by Naresh Goyal, and Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines owe Rs 80 crore to the cash-strapped Air India towards ground handling at Cochin International Airport. Civil aviation ministry will soon write to these airlines to pay the dues immediately.
“These dues are quite old. We have sent notices, letters to these carriers many times. However, no response has come so far. We will be writing to them again and will like to have fastest clearance of the credits,” a senior government official told Financial Chronicle, on the condition of anonymity.
“There is nothing like owing money to Air India. It’s the credit and we are under discussions. Also, it is the internal matter between two firms, and we would not like to discuss it in public,” Saroj Datta, executive director of Jet Airways, said.
According to an Air India official, who did not want to be named, the airlines have been reluctant to pay up the dues on the pretext that the quality of ground handling services were not provided as per contractual obligations.
While Kigfisher registered a net loss of Rs 626 crore during the third quarter of financial year 2008-09, against Rs 423 crore in the same quarter last year, Jet Airways reported a net loss of Rs 225 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, against a profit of Rs 143 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Kingfisher spokesperson could not be reached for a comment.
28/07/09 Parul Chhaparia/mydigitalfc.com

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Categories: Jet Airways Jul 2009, Kingfisher Jul 2009, NACIL Jul 2009