Kingfisher Airlines will carry within the country passengers of Delta Airlines of the United States
The foreign institutional investors have more than doubled their holding to 2.46 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya-led UB group's Kingfisher Airlines, while small individual shareholders hiked their holding significantly to 17.59 per cent during the quarter ended September 30.
Till now in Kingfisher, the number was not fixed and depended on the number of hours flown.
India's leading private air carrier Kingfisher Airlines has launched two new international flights connecting the UAE to New Delhi and Mumbai.
The charge sheet has now paved way for the CBI to approach authorities in the UK for deportation of Mallya.
Various airlines, including the defunct Kingfisher, owed Rs 3,030 crore (Rs 30.30 billion) to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the end of December last year.
The launch marks the first time that Kingfisher Airlines is adding destinations from South East Asia to its international route network.
A familiar face in the glamour circles, Sidhartha Mallya is being groomed to eventually step into his father's shoes.
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.
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.
Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to place orders for five A-380 in June 2005 with Airbus.
A Kingfisher Airlines flight IT-3149 from Mumbai to Lucknow was grounded at Mumbai airport after a bomb scare. The airline got a call as the plane was taxiing on the runway. The plane was then taken to the isolation bay of Mumbai airport.
Government has been planning to relax the norm to three years through a revised aviation policy which is pending before a group of ministers.
UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya and Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy signed an MoU to this effect at the 47th International Paris Air show on Wednesday.
A communication goof-up between Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines and its banker saw a cheque of Rs 12,975 bounce, much to the embarrassment of the country's largest private carrier, which promptly arranged a bank draft for the recipient.
Battling financial crisis, Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya on Tuesday said he has not asked for a bailout from the government but wants the lenders to help with Rs 700-800 crore (Rs 7-8 billion) working capital as short-term need and interest concessions.
At least five Kingfisher Airlines flights out of Mumbai and Delhi were cancelled on Monday as a section of staff did not report for duty to demand immediate payment of salary and allowance backlog.
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.
The parent entity, (Holdings) Ltd, have also expressed concern over the company's significant exposure to the airline.
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.
Kingfisher Airlines was found to have deducted tax at source on salary payments but had not deposited it in government account, Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply.
The company had reported a net loss of Rs 650.78 crore (Rs 6.5 billion) in the same period a year-ago, Kingfisher Airlines said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Mallya claims private airlines were discriminated against by the Indian government, which bailed out state-owned Air India but did not assist his own Kingfisher Airlines and now Jet Airways.
FIIs' stake in Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways stood at 7.10 per cent during the three months through September, compared to 6.38 per cent during the first quarter of this financial year.
Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines is flying into turbulence. More than 150 of its pilots have left in the past year-and-a-half, citing various reasons. Even though others have joined, the current shortage is estimated at 35 pilots, forcing the airline to ground some of its aircraft, cancel leaves of flight commanders, and put senior executives from the operations department on flying duty.
Kingfisher Airlines had moved the Supreme Court against a probe into its two-year-old strategic alliance with Jet Airways.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, which plans to launch its operations from May 9, plans to float a public issue in the next 18 months to two years, a top company official said on Friday.
Its lenders, who hold around 23 per cent of the debt-laden airline, have asked the promoters to bring in equity before they lend more.
Kingfisher Airlines is launching its flight operations in Jammu from November 25 while GoAir has announced doubling its flight operations, also by the end of this month. Initially, it will operate seven flights a week. The company has appointed staff and raised infrastructure for the operation of its offices in Jammu. Kingfisher has been operating in Srinagar for more than a year.
Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines, which recently got approval to fly on nine international routes, today said it will start direct daily flights from Mumbai to London from January 5, 2009.
'Everyone knows that you including your son won't be able to spend all the wealth that you have earned then why not at least pay the salaries of your employees,' the letter said.
Low-cost carrier Deccan and Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday decided to merge and create a single corporate entity to cut down operational costs and accelerate their journey to profitability.
Needless to say, Kingfisher is planning to deploy all foreign cabin crew on its US flights.