Private carrier Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday got the crucial operational permit from the civil aviation ministry, recognising it as a scheduled carrier and enabling it to launch flights from Monday next.
The 14 banks, led by State Bank of India, which lent Rs 6,500 crore (Rs 65 billion) to the airline, are now involved in litigation over the money, as Mallya has sued them in multiple courts.
Kingfisher Airlines on Tuesday said it had entered into a tie-up with electronic global distribution services provider Galileo International for providing access to the latter's travel agent network.
The company's exposure relating to Kingfisher Airlines is under various accounts including corporate guarantees to banks.
At the beginning of this year, his stake in the airline stood at 30.14%.
A familiar face in the glamour circles, Sidhartha Mallya is being groomed to eventually step into his father's shoes.
Amidst speculation that liquor baron Vijay Mallya will take 100 per cent stake in Air Sahara, Kingfisher Airlines has kick started an advertising campaign to catch privileged passengers of its rival airline.
IndiGo gained a market share of 14.7 per cent, closely followed by Kingfisher Red at 13.3 per cent whereas Kingfisher slipped two notches to the fifth position at 11.6 per cent. Kingfisher stood at No.3 in October, followed by Kingfisher Red and IndiGo at fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Villa, owned by United Breweries Holding, was mortgaged by KFA to SBI-led 17-bank consortium to obtain loans in 2010
Airline to increase full-service flights as Kingfisher curtails operations.
Kingfisher Airlines on Thursday said it has signed a comprehensive frequent flier agreement with American Airlines.
FIIs, on the contrary, have been exiting the stock.
Kingfisher has five A330-200s currently operating in its fleet, which ply between India and the United Kingdom. Deliveries are pending for another 15. Contacted by Business Standard, a company spokesperson said the airline did not ". . .envisage making any changes to the order book at this time".
Kingfisher Airlines' conciliation meeting with Air India recently ended without any result.
It says the move will help generate additional revenue.
The lenders have not ruled out selling the property to recover part of their loans to the company.
Airline may cut its fleet from the existing 64 planes over the next few months.
Aircraft lessor International Lease Finance Corp said on Monday it had successfully removed one of six aircraft stranded in India by the dispute over the suspension of operations at Kingfisher Airlines.
Private airlines owe a total of Rs 710.14 crore to the AAI.
To be allotted to other Indian airlines
SBI has already exceeded the exposure limit of Rs 1,436.1 crore (Rs 14.36 billion) in Kingfisher.
As per the present policy, foreign carriers are not allowed to pick stake in Indian airlines. However, the government allows FDI up to 100 per cent in other areas of the aviation sector, like developing of greenfield airports or in cargo and maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities.
Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines owes state-run oil companies over Rs 950 crore (Rs 9.50 billion0 in unpaid fuel bills while financial crisis-hit NACIL has cleared almost two-thirds of its outstanding.
In its revival plan submitted to aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday, the cash-strapped airline is understood to have said that it has requested the Airports Authority of India to allow them to fly on cash-and-carry basis, that is pay for the services as and when the airline avails of them.
Buyer actor-producer Sachiin Joshi, who owns Viiking Media, has reportedly bought the villa, spread over 12,350 sq ft or three acre at Candolim.
Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have been left in the lurch, with most hoping the airline resumes operations, as this would ensure at least some revenue flow.
Industry sources said the carrier owed over Rs 620 crore to BPCL and HPCL, besides Rs 160 crore to IOC. However, Kingfisher Airlines is not the only company with oil dues. Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and state-owned Air India started this financial year with accumulated dues of Rs 4,000 crore to oil companies and airports, sources said. The three airlines are collectively projected to incur operating losses of Rs 5,000 crore, industry estimates suggest.
The agency is also investigating the overall financial structure of Kingfisher Airlines.
The civil aviation ministry granted the traffic rights to Deccan Aviation, in which Kingfisher Airlines merged in 2007, to operate services to London and other global destinations. The airline, which has already firmed up plans to launch its Bangalore-London (Heathrow) flight from the first week of September, would be starting its international services on the rights granted to Deccan Aviation on the India-UK sector.
The decision to close down Kingfisher Red was announced by airline group chief Vijay Mallya yesterday who said this was being done 'because we don't intend to compete in the low-cost segment'.
The company had dent of about Rs 14,070 crore.
To use proceeds from United Spirits stake sale.
The carrier has been grounded since October and employees haven't got pay since June.
The parent entity, (Holdings) Ltd, have also expressed concern over the company's significant exposure to the airline.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Kingfisher Airlines' plea against the Karnataka High Court's order directing it to deposit around Rs 185 crore with the Income Tax Department as TDS from its employees' wages.
Bankers gave money to Mallya's airline though it was not enough to even service existing debt?
The UB group's Kingfisher Airlines, which is planning to launch operations in May, announced the signing of deals to purchase three Airbus A-319 aircraft.
After oil firms' rebuff over dues, rival Jet refuses to accommodate Kingfisher passengers due to non-payment.
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