Won’t go by Kingfisher’s “empty promises”: AAI

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Spelling fresh trouble for beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines, state-run Airports Authority of India(AAI) has said it will not go by the “empty promises” of the airline management and would insist on clearance of its dues before the carrier is allowed to fly again.

“We will not go by the empty promises of the Kingfisher Airlines management. We want our dues to be paid (before the airline is allowed to take off again),” a highly-placed AAI source told PTI here.

The grounded airline owes Rs 290 crore to AAI towards landing and parking fees. The airline’s revival plan has already run into trouble with its engineers stating recently that they would file winding up petition against the company for non-payment of salaries for the last eight months while a section of its former pilots has already taken the company to the court on the same issue.

Stating that the state-run airport agency will not settle for anything “short of clearing of all dues,” the source said, “despite all their talks of resuming limited operations, no official from Kingfisher has approached us in this regard”.

“We have made our position clear on Kingfisher dues also to the aviation regulator DGCA, which has to approve the revival plan,” the source said.

Kingfisher, which has over Rs 15,000 crore in the form of debt, accumulated losses and various dues, has remained grounded since October 1 and its flying licence expired on December 31.

The airline chairman Vijay Mallya had said Kingfisher would be up and flying by the summer with a limited number of aircraft as part of its revival plan.