Not helping any one airline, the whole sector is in crisis: Ajit Singh

New Delhi: The UPA government has done “all we could” to aid the country’s beleaguered aviation sector, according to Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh. As for the crisis emanating from the Kingfisher Airlines’ flight cancellations, it is now up to the airline to utilise those measures and come up with resources, he tells Kavita Chowdhury in an interview. Edited excerpts:

The sudden large-scale cancellation of scheduled flights by Kingfisher Airlines over the weekend, it seems, has snowballed into a full blown crisis...
Everyone knows that Kingfisher has been having a financial trouble for some time now. They have amassed huge debts, they hadn’t been able to pay the airport authority, they haven’t paid the oil company dues, they hadn’t paid salaries for the past few months. Even their accounts have been frozen. We, the government, have made it clear that there will be no bailout. However, we have taken three crucial steps to help the aviation sector. Firstly, we have allowed all airlines to directly import aviation fuel. Next, we are working on allowing FDI up to 49 per cent in the aviation sector. Thirdly, we have allocated traffic rights to private airlines on foreign routes. All these measures should help airlines.
There is an impression that the government is going all out to help out Kingfisher...
It’s not the question of helping any one airline; the whole aviation sector is in crisis. Only Indigo was able to pay the Airports Authority; no other airlines has managed it. The measures we have taken will help airlines to come up with fresh business plans to persuade banks to lend them money.
21/02/12 Kavita Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2012