News: Kingfisher International seeks clearance for flights to India

(BL 30/11/2006) New Delhi - Faced with policy constraints here of not being allowed to fly out of India, the Chairman of Kingfisher Airline, Vijay Mallya, has mandated Kingfisher International Airlines - the new company floated by him in the US - to begin the process to get clearances to start operating regular flights to India.

Mallya told Business Line that a well-known law firm in the US had started doing the paper work for Kingfisher Airlines to begin scheduled operations to India. He, however, refused to disclose the name of the law firm.

"The law firm would be contacting the Department of Transport and other US Government Departments so as to initiate the process of getting clearance for the airline.

"After all, the wide body aircraft that have been ordered by the airline cannot sit on the ground. We will have non-stop operations and will utilise the Airbus A-340-500 aircraft to fly on this route," Mallya said on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum meeting.

New arrivals

The airline, that is now not allowed to operate in the international skies, has committed to purchase more than 20 Airbus wide body aircraft, including five Airbus A-380, five A-330 and five A-330, which would start arriving later next year. At present, the Indian Government has stipulated that only those airlines that have completed five years of operations in the domestic skies are allowed to fly on international routes. Kingfisher Airlines took to the Indian skies in May 2005.

The UB Group overcame stringent US regulations disallowing foreign nationals setting up an airline there as 75 per cent of the new airline is owned by Mallya's three children, all of whom are US citizens.

At present, American Airlines, Delta and Continental Airlines are the only carriers to offer a non-stop service to India. Air India plans to launch non-stop services to India after it receives the Boeing 777 aircraft that it is to purchase.