DIAL also asks Kingfisher to vacate international business lounge at T3
Saurabh Sinha, TNN | Nov 2, 2012, 02.47AM IST
NEW DELHI: Kingfisher troubles don't seem to end. After Airports Authority of India (AAI) asking it to vacate hangars at Chennai and Kolkata, the GMR-run Delhi Airport has asked it to give up the huge business lounge it has on the international side of terminal 3 (T3). The airline, which has not operated a single flight since October 1 and whose licence is suspended, had stopped international flights this March.
"Our business teams have told Kingfisher that it makes commercial sense for them to vacate the huge 90-100 square meter space they have occupied at T3 (international side) for business lounge since they don't have international flights. Their plan is to restart operations with about seven planes. Under current rules, an airline can't fly abroad till it has 20 aircraft in its fleet. So even if Kingfisher is able to restart operations, going overseas is a long way off," said a senior GMR official.
Kingfisher's combined dues for Delhi and Hyderabad airports (both operated by GMR) are about Rs 75 crore. The GMR Group has filed suits over bounced cheques. "The entire overdue amount needs to be securitized before Kingfisher can fly again from these places," said the official.
Kingfisher does not have any hangar at the GMR-run airports. A number of its planes are parked in open at the old international terminal of IGI Airport like "Christmas trees". "The airline used to take whatever parts it needed from the parked planes to keep its skeletal fleet flying before October 1. That's why they were nicknamed Christmas trees," said sources.
Meanwhile, some Kingfisher employees did not get the second pay cheque they were promised before end of October. Kingfisher EVP Hitesh Patel wrote a mail to employees: "I have received many SMS and calls reference salary. I can assure you that the salary for ALL employees was paid yesterday (October 31) as committed, in fact the full salary from various banks was debited from the KFA account and confirmed by us yesterday evening so I expect the balance of the employees to get the SMS today as the banks processes the salary."
The Kingfisher lounge was the only lounge by an Indian carrier at T3 international side. Air India's lounge is not ready yet. Emirates and Lufthansa are the only two airlines with lounges. All other airlines use two common lounges for their business and first class passengers.
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