The death knell for India’s Kingfisher Airlines sounded as lender banks took possession of the airline’s 25,850-sq-ft headquarters property in Mumbai on August 10. Carrying some $1 billion in outstanding debt, liquor tsar Vijay Mallya and his United Breweries Group have seen wholly owned Kingfisher accumulate $2.6 billion in losses since its launch in 2005. Most recently, it registered a loss of $188 million for the quarter running from April to June. Once again it collected no revenue due to its grounding on October 1 of last year. It still technically employs some 2,000 people, none of whom it has paid for the past 10 months, and retains a fleet of 15 airplanes out its former complement of 66, including three self-owned ATR turboprops.
Kingfisher’s exit reflects the fragility of India’s aviation business as a whole. The sector registered disappointing financial results for the second quarter and projections for this quarter suggest little improvement on only marginal year-over-year traffic growth. Severe discounting during the current quarter failed to stimulate the market.
19/08/13 Neelam Mathews/AINonline
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Kingfisher’s exit reflects the fragility of India’s aviation business as a whole. The sector registered disappointing financial results for the second quarter and projections for this quarter suggest little improvement on only marginal year-over-year traffic growth. Severe discounting during the current quarter failed to stimulate the market.
19/08/13 Neelam Mathews/AINonline
