Kingfisher may cut 200 flights

New Delhi: Alarm bells are ringing in aviation ministry with Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher indicating to government that it is looking at curtailing 200 flights from its daily winter schedule of 418 domestic flights. Realising that such a drastic reduction in capacity in the peak season would spell trouble for passengers, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has summoned Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal on Saturday to spell out the airline's plan.
"With a 20% market share, Kingfisher carries one crore domestic flyers a year. This roughly translates into eightnine lakh passengers a month. If flights are cut by half, 4 lakh passengers will be left in the lurch. Other airlines are also flying with over 80% occupancy and do not have excess capacity to absorb the passengers booked on Kingfisher's cancelled flights," said a senior government official. When asked, Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal did not comment on the proposed cancellation of flights in coming days.
The problem has worsened as some airlines are not even comfortable in taking passengers of Kingfisher's cancelled flights as they are not sure of getting paid.
19/11/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Kingfisher Nov 2011