Kingfisher to cancel 31 flights daily till 19 November

Wednesday, 9 November 2011 01:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s No. two carrier Kingfisher Airlines, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, plans to cancel 31 flights daily till 19 November, including four international flights to Bangkok, the Mint newspaper reported, citing an unnamed airline official.

The cash-strapped carrier, which has not reported a profit ever since it got listed and has undergone debt restructuring once, has decided to cancel 27 domestic flights, the paper said, without specifying a reason.

The cancellations include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad routes, the report said.

About a dozen of Kingfisher’s aircraft are already out of service because of maintenance and other issues, the report said.

Kingfisher had cancelled around 20 flights from Delhi on Monday, due to a lack of aircraft, a Delhi airport official who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Kingfisher Airlines officials and a spokesman were not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

On Oct. 13, the airline had faced a disruption in flights after state-run oil marketer HPCL temporarily halted fuel supplies, citing non-payment of dues.

Last week, Kingfisher said it has sought further cushion from banks to ease its debt burden, but denied it was seeking another debt restructuring.

Earlier, Kingfisher’s auditors raised questions about its viability and said it needed capital infusion to survive.