KFA curtails 50% flights this summer, will meet DGCA today

Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) will operate around 120 flights each day during this summer vacation, states the airline’s website. This is around 50% lesser flights then what the airline had operated in the summer of 2011. The airline has around 64 aircraft in its fleet and it operated over 360 flights till a couple of months ago.

Despite all the drama that unfolded last week with media reports suggesting that the aviation regulator might cancel the airline's flying licence, the airline is still managing operations despite a huge financial crunch. Any airline’s licence cannot be cancelled till the time it has five aircraft in its fleet, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The DGCA mulled cancellation of Kingfisher's flying permit after the airline recently submitted to it the summer flight schedule with 15 to 16 aircraft as against 28 planes submitted last month.

However, the airline is getting negative signals from the civil aviation ministry that the latter may lose license if it doesn’t adhere to safety rules. However, the DGCA is expected to meet Vijay Mallya today, the owner of the airline to get a cleat picture of the airline’s plan for survival in a tough environment.

The loss-laden airline with a debt of around Rs 6,000 crore was also served a showcause notice by the DGCA last month asking why its licence should not be suspended as it had made unannounced cancellations in recent past.

Did you read: Kingfisher slips 5% ahead of the DGCA meet today