Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Feb 19, 2013 The fate of 40 leased Kingfisher Airlines aircraft parked at numerous airports in India, is to be decided on Feb 21 at a meeting with the aviation secretary, AAI chairman  V. P Agarwal told AerospaceDiary today. He said the reputation of India could be at stake with lessors losing trust (in the country's legal machinery as many were covered under the Cape Town Convention). "These aircraft cannot be detained," said Agarwal. "There are some aircraft (parked) because of non payment of  Service Tax  , at some places the JV partners are not allowing them to be released......," he added. Kingfisher has given "no concrete proposal to us  on payment of dues, that are over INR 390 crores, Agarwal explained. We are asking for a firm commitment for payment to be done....We already have an INR 117crores  bounced cheque that cannot be cashed...they have to give (us) guarantee."

Neelam Mathews Jan 4, 2012 The recently reported case of the Mumbai International Airport not permitting a lessor to take back its aircraft following non-payment of lease rentals by Kingfisher and DGCAs unwillingness/inability to deregister aircraft is not holding the country in good light. “India being a signatory to the Cape Town Convention, needs to sort out its issues and ensure its leased assets are moved out,” said Kapil Kaul, who heads CAPA in South Asia in an exclusive to AerospaceDiary today. DGCA needs to value the treaty they have signed, he adds. The idea of the treaty-we have covered from its inception years ago- was to iron out unclear areas. So with the Mumbai airport, for instance, wanting to holdback aircraft because it has not been paid by the airline is against the law, we learn. This is ofcourse not the only case pending. DGCA as the regulator needs to exercise its right to ensure the airport does not follow the rule of jungle. “This is a gr...