Kingfi sher crisis enters day 3, 16 more fl ights cancelled

NEW DELHI: The Kingfi sher crisis today entered its third day as the cashstrapped airline cancelled 16 fl ights across the country. It has cancelled 12 outgoing fl ights from Mumbai and four from Delhi early this morning. The fresh cancellations come a day after almost half of its fl ights from major metros were cancelled or delayed on Saturday. Yesterday, Kingfi sher had suspended its operations in Kolkata and also cancelled 16 fl ights from Mumbai. However, a statement issued by the airline on Saturday said there have been fl ight disruptions since Friday which will continue for four days due to unexpected events including bird strikes. All these cancellations come amidst reports that the airline is going through fi nancial trouble and one of its bank accounts has been seized by the income tax authorities. The Kingfi sher management said that this is a planned move and they don’t intend to shut down any of its existing operations. “We confi rm that our Bank accounts were attached by the tax authorities. However, this has happened in the past not just to us but also to Air India. We have resolved issues before and will do so again,” the Kingfi sher spokesman said. Meanwhile, alarmed over reports of large-scale fl ight disruptions, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday started gathering information on the cancellations and delays and would decide whether to initiate any action on the airline on that basis. “We have received reports about large-scale cancellations. They are bound to inform us when they cut their schedule. But they have not done so,” DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan told media. He said if the reports were true, such large of fl ight disruption would constitute violation of rules. “We are gathering information from all the centres. Once we get this, we will decide what to do,” he said. Under Rule 140(A) of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, operators require to have prior approval of DGCA to curtail their fl ight schedules. Bhushan also said that messages have been sent by the DGCA to all other airlines to accommodate all passengers stranded due to these cancellations by Kingfi sher on Saturday.” They have to do this without enhancing the fares,” he said when asked about the severe hardships being faced by the passengers of cancelled Kingfi sher fl ights. The airline was operating only about 160-180 fl ights out of its already curtailed winter schedule of 240. The sources said operations from Tier-II and Tier-III cities are likely to be affected until March-end. The airline began canceling its fl ights as it held talks with bankers to fi nalise a deal for funds. Kingfi sher posted a Rs 444 crore loss for the third quarter. The airline has suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11 and has a debt of Rs 7,057.08 crore, latest fi gures show.