Aerospace Diary

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  JANUARY 7, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Fortunes have reversed for Kingfisher Airlines since 2007, when the carrier’s CEO, Vijay Mallya (seated center), hosted Airbus COO for customers John Leahy (left) and Airbus executive v-p Kiran Rao during a New Delhi press conference promoting Kingfisher’s since dashed plans to fly the A380. (Photo: Airbus) January 7, 2013, 11:55 AM Facing a high debt burden, unpaid bills, a depreciating rupee in its home country of India and rising fuel costs, Kingfisher Airlines saw its Air Operator Permit   ( AOP ) expire on December 31 after the Director General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) found the carrier had failed to furnish no-objection certificates from service providers–including airports–in its restructuring plan. Now, the Airports Authority of India ( AAI ) has threatened to “evacuate” the assets of the airline from airports across the country. “We also have p...

Neelam Mathews in Kuala Lumpur Nov 8, 2012 AAPAs 56th Assembly of Presidents concentrates on its members primarily in the Asean region, But talk aviation with very senior people here, and the state of Indian aviation crops up as the primary subject of interest. It is embarrassing to hear tales of woe from lessors, insurance agents, OEMs and anybody who is a vendor about payments not being made primarily by Kingfisher and airports setting a bad example by not letting the claimed planes go. In case we didn't realize people didn't care, lets think again. The aviation community is so big, yet so small, somebody told me here. And how true that is! Everybody's fortune, seems to be intrinsically linked with each other. "People are scared of fuel prices, airport charges that go up and down and are waiting for the regulatory environment to pan out," said an official here on condition of anonymity. He did add that nothing much was expected to move till India's e...