Kingfisher Airlines will need to convince the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on the defunct airline’s funding plans and the payment of salaries to employees before it is likely to be allowed to take to the skies again.

This emerged at a meeting that the airline Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Agarwal had with Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Mishra here on Wednesday. Agarwal declined to talk to the media after the meeting.

Sources indicated that at the meeting the DGCA was shown evidence in terms of No Objection Certificate (NoC) from fuel companies, lessors, some maintenance repair and overhaul facilities and even Airbus (which said that it was ready to provide support for aircraft).

Mishra was informed that the promoters are working out how to settle their debts and are talking to investors. No details of the investors were, however, made available at the meeting. There was no mention of the UB Group providing funds for the airline to get air borne again. The listed Kingfisher Airlines is part of the UB Group.

The airline, however, has not yet been able to get an NoC from airport operators. The airline owes over Rs 250 crore to the state-owned Airports Authority of India alone.

Kingfisher expressed the hope that it would be able to restart operations during the summer schedule. Globally, the summer schedule of airlines starts in March and ends in October. The airline suspended operations on October 1, 2012 and its licence was suspended on December 31, 2012.

“They have said this is an interim briefing. Initially the airline plans to start operations with five Airbus 320 and two ATR aircraft,” sources said.

Incidentally, the airline promoter and Member of Parliament, Vijay Mallya, in a recent communication to employees, had indicated that Kingfisher Airlines would take to the skies in a phased manner during the summer schedule.

ashwini.phadnis@thehindu.co.in

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