Lessors threaten repossession of Kingfisher aircraft

Mumbai: With the domestic aviation sectors' winter schedule thrown out of gear by Kingfisher's massive flight cancellations, the company's aircraft lessors are mulling repossession of aircraft provided on lease to the Vijay Mallya-promoted company.

Cancelling as much as 36% of its daily services yesterday Kingfisher left thousands of passengers across the country in the lurch for the third straight day.

Reports suggest that aircraft lessors have been in negotiations with Kingfisher for the past few days after the airline defaulted on payments on some aircraft.

Kingfisher's already precarious financial situation received deathly blows in recent months from rising fuel costs and an intense price war.

Unable to secure money from lenders or the markets and nearly out of cash to pay for fuel supplies, Kingfisher on Thursday continued to cancel flights for the third day. It has already been put on cash-and-carry basis by most of its service providers.

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a notice to the airline, demanding an explanation.