Vijay Mallya, the flamboyant liquor baron who owns a majority stake in Kingfisher, said he was determined to keep the airline flying and blamed a cash crunch on the tax authorities who have frozen its bank accounts over outstanding dues.
“I am absolutely committed to keeping the airline going unless some government agency wishes to ground it,” Mallya told reporters. “The point is our banks accounts have been frozen by income tax authorities very suddenly and that has crippled us.”
As per the latest reports, The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was not satisfied with the crisis-hit Kingfisher Airlines’ reply on the flight cancellations, according to sources. Sources in the DGCA said that they wanted a detailed reply from Kingfisher on the safety of passengers.
The DGCA gave the crisis-hit Kingfisher Airlines time till Wednesday to submit its flight schedule with the 28 operational aircraft. DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan said that out of the 64 aircraft with Kingfisher, only 28 were operational.
Kingfisher shares plunged nearly 20 percent in early trade on Tuesday ahead of a meeting between the airline’s top executives and the country’s aviation regulator. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the carrier to explain the cancellation more than 100 flights since Saturday.
Of the 64 planes in its fleet, Kingfisher is using just over a dozen to operate flights currently, stranding thousands of passengers at airports across the country.
With one of the world’s most expensive yachts and a cricket and Formula One team, Kingfisher Airlines’ billionaire chairman is known as the “King of the Good Times” for a jet-set lifestyle that has shadowed India’s own rise as an economic power.
The 56-year-old Mallya is also chairman of United Breweries (Holdings) (UBHL.NS), a conglomerate with interests as diverse as aviation, breweries, biotechnology and real estate. The group has annual sales of more than $4 billion.