Kingfisher Airlines Loses 34 More Planes, Only Flying 15 Aircraft

Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A319...the airline is left to fly only one of these.

Kingfisher Airlines took yet another blow as 34 more aircraft have been taken back by lessors for non-payment, according to a report by the Times of India.

“Lessors have taken back as many as 34 aircraft from Kingfisher between March and June, owing to non-payment of lease rentals, which stand at around Rs 1,000 crore,” sources told PTI here.

Kingfisher, however, says that they returned the planes voluntarily and that they were not taken by “force”:

“There have been no forced returns of the aircraft to the lessors. Whenever we have returned planes, we have voluntarily done so,” a Kingfisher spokesperson said in a text message.

Kingfisher has also grounded an additional 15 aircraft for lack of spares leaving the airline’s active fleet at a mere 15 aircraft.

The planes reported to be active are 8 ATRs, 1 A319, 4 A320s and 2 A321s.

Source

Image: Flickr [dbanik]