Kingfisher to lose licence for good today

Kingfisher Airlines, the flying licence of which was suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in October, is scheduled to lose it for good today – unless the aviation regulator accepts its revival plan submitted last week, but this is seen as unlikely.

The financially crippled Kingfisher has been grounded since early October after months of cancelled flights and staff walkouts.

Last week, Kingfisher Airlines had filed a revival plan with the DGCA. Under this, Kingfisher chairman and liquor baron Vijay Mallya's United Breweries group was reportedly ready invest Rs652 crore in the airline.

However, civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said on Wednesday that it did not provide details of how it will fund operations. UB "did not say they are going to give anything" to Kingfisher, which has estimated debts of $2.5 billion, Singh said.

The minister did not specify if the proposal to resume operations with five planes had been rejected. But he noted that the airline owed money to banks, staff, airports, and tax authorities.

All those stakeholders needed to be convinced the re-launch plan was viable before the DGCA could allow the airline to fly again, Singh said.