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Last week, Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya told his employees that he had no money to pay their salaries.
However, a note in the airline’s latest annual report reveals that Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Aggarwal was paid a remuneration of nearly Rs 4 crore for the last fiscal.
And yet, Kingfisher Airlines official claimed that the CEO was not paid any salary for the entire year.
A year earlier, the airline paid Aggarwal about Rs 2 crore as he had joined the company during the second half of 2011-12.
Incidentally, the report said the airline paid Rs 1,340 crore in 2012-13 for fuel, airport charges and salaries.
According to the report, Kingfisher Airlines had 2,851 employees, 50 per cent less than in the previous financial year.
Brand valuation
The annual report claims that even though the airline has been grounded for the last eight months, once it becomes operational, it will have a brand value of $500 million, going by a valuation carried out by consultancy Grant Thornton.
During the previous year, the brand was valued at $1 billion.
According to the independent auditor’s report, Kingfisher Airlines still owes tax deducted at source of Rs 620.35 crore, service tax of Rs 73.03 crore, professional tax of Rs 44.04 lakh, fringe benefit tax of Rs 55.87 lakh (balance of tax for 2008-09 and gratuity to resigned employees of Rs 4.10 crore).
Ready to operate
All these were outstanding for over six months from the date they became payable, according to the auditor, B.K. Ramdhyani & Co.
The airline also said that it still has enough senior and mid-level managers and a sufficient number of pilots, engineers and dispatchers to operate up to 20 aircraft.
In addition, the report said that though the airline’s scheduled air operator permit has expired, it can be renewed “within a matter of days’’ before December 31, 2014.
This it said, can be done by capitalising the company as per the revival plan submitted to the regulator, Director General of Civil Aviation.
When the scheduled air operator’s permit expired on December 31, 2012, Kingfisher Airlines had a total of 12 aircraft.
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