Kingfisher seeks $3.5 mn from Jet for damage to aircraft

Mumbai: Kingfisher Airlines has estimated the damage to its Airbus aircraft that was hit by a Jet Airways Boeing last weekend at Mumbai airport at around $3.5 million (Rs 15.6 crore) and expects Naresh Goyal’s airline to pay up. Aviation sources told The Indian Express that the amount was conveyed to Jet at a meeting involving the two airlines and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The incident, classified as “serious” by DGCA, saw a Jet Airways aircraft, which had 122 passengers and was bound for Muscat, hit a parked Kingfisher Airlines aircraft while being tugged from its parking slot to the runway, damaging the left stabiliser of the Kingfisher Airbus. The damage was caused by the Jet aircraft’s left wing tip, which is made of glass fibre, and the the stabiliser would have to be replaced, the sources said, adding that the Jet aircraft hardly suffered any damage and was back in operation.
While insurance companies of the airlines are likely to end up footing at least a part of the bill, Kingfisher may have also taken into account the losses incurred due to the grounding of the aircraft to come up with the $3.5 million figure as a stabiliser is not expected to cost that much, aviation analysts said.
29/10/10 Ranjani Raghavan/Indian Express

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Categories: airports Oct 2010, Jet Airways Oct 2010, Kingfisher Oct 2010, Safety Oct 2010