Mallya briefs civil avition secretary K N Shrivastava over revival plans

Ahead of the submission of its revival plan to aviation regulator DGCA, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya today met civil aviation secretary K N Shrivastava to brief him about the steps under way to revive the beleaguered carrier.

Mallya is understood to have been asked by Shrivastava about plans to pay off the debts and dues to various vendors, including Airports Authority of India (AAI), which had it to vacate two hangars at Kolkata and Chennai airports as the carrier owed the state-run airports body Rs293 crore.

After the meeting, Mallya said he had briefed Shrivastava on the revival and restart plan adding that it would be a comprehensive plan. He added that all hurdles would be crossed.

The 30-minute meeting between UB Group chief and the secretary, was the first since the airline got into regulatory trouble, according to official sources.

The carrier was expected to apply to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for revocation of suspension of its 'scheduled operator's permit' (SOP) or flying license in a few weeks.

For this, it had to submit to the DGCA a comprehensive financial and operational plan for revival of the airline and its operations, after an over three week impasse with its employees since 30 September, who struck work demanding payment of overdue salaries. The strike was followed by a lockout that was lifted on 25 October however, the services of Kingfisher can be restored only after convincing the DGCA that the carrier could provide safe and sustainable operations.