Govt to ship Kingfisher planes to international leasing companies

In a damagecontrol exercise to prevent India's image from being dented in the global market, the civil aviation ministry may issue a guidance to release all Kingfisher Airlines aircraft parked at Indian airports to international leasing companies.

The move comes in the wake of growing disquiet among major leasing companies over India's refusal to hand over the aircraft and fears that much-needed aircraft finance would be stopped to Indian airline companies.

Civil Aviation Secretary KN Srivastava is in the process of issuing a letter to all airport operators in "3-4 days", directing airports to release aircraft that have been de-registered by the authorities and are no longer held by Kingfisher. "This would happen very soon," Arun Mishra, directorgeneral of civil aviation (DGCA), told ET.

The ministry decided on this step after a meeting with interested parties and stakeholders, including the Airports Authority of India, or AAI, in Delhi about a week back.

Kingfisher Airlines ceased operations last year, following defaults on loan repayment to lenders and failure to pay salaries. The airline buckled under in October-November 2011, running out of cash and was forced to suspend operations. The airline could not find investors and DGCA was forced to suspend its licence in October last year.

The de-registration will decrease number of aircraft on Kingfisher's air operating permit to 15. Experts said it will not be easy for the airline to restart operations any time soon

(Economic Times)