The Union Civil Aviation Ministry has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, to study the impact of fresh flight cancellations by beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.
“'We have asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to examine the flight cancellations by Kingfisher Airlines and its implications on safety and inconvenience caused to passengers,’’' Mr Ajit Singh, Union Civil Aviation Minister, told media persons on the sidelines of the inauguration of a MRO facility at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Tuesday.
Kingfisher has cancelled further about 50 flights as the operations were hit due to strike by pilots and technical staff.
Mr Singh said Kingfisher Airlines’ promoter, Mr Vijay Mallya, had to “'marshal his own funds’’' to save the airline, ruling out any bail-out. “Mr Mallya is a good businessman. He has to marshall his own funds. We cannot tell banks to lend the airline further,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Minister inaugurated the MRO facility, a 50:50 joint venture between GMR Group and Malaysian Aerospace Engineering. The facility can provide full aircraft base maintenance services. It can provide engineering and maintenance services to narrow body aircraft like B 737 NG, ATR 42/77 and A320 family of aircraft, apart from wide body aircraft like B777 and A330.
The facility has a wide body hangar that can accommodate two narrow body aircraft, one narrow body hangar and one narrow body-cum-paint hanger.