INDIA’S troubled Kingfisher Airlines, which has been grounded since October, posted a record second-quarter loss on Thursday (November 8) as revenues crashed, intensifying concerns about the carrier’s future.
Kingfisher said it saw a net loss of Rs7.54bn ($139m/£86.95m) for its fiscal second quarter, against Rs4.69bn ($86m/£53) in the same period a year earlier.
Revenues dived 87 per cent to Rs2bn ($36m/£22.9m), the debt-laden airline said.
The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, the airline industry’s regulator, suspended Kingfisher’s licence last month until it comes up with a “viable” revival plan.
The airline said it was “preparing a comprehensive plan for a re-start of operations”, which it would share with the regulator and bankers.
“We expect to resume operations in the near future,” it said.
Kingfisher has been struggling to survive after staff strikes over unpaid salaries, while it owes billions of dollars in taxes and payments to suppliers, lenders and employees.
It has the smallest market share among Indian airlines at 3.5 per cent, after being the second-largest among the country’s six major carriers at its peak.
The problems of Kingfisher are the worst among India’s private carriers, partly due to overly rapid expansion, while the government is reviving state-run Air India with a nearly $6bn (£3.75bn) bailout.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a Sydney-based consultancy, in a recent report said Kingfisher’s debt was $2.49bn (£1.55bn) including bank debts of $1.1bn (£68m), and it had accumulated losses of $1.9bn (£1.18bn).
