Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines has returned 19 leased aircraft in the past 10 months owing to mounting losses. Of these, 16 are Airbus and three ATR are turbo-prop aircraft, according to official data.
The data of the director general of civil aviation, which publishes monthly data on registration, deregistration and change of ownership of the aircraft, showed that in December 2008, Kingfisher returned six Airbus and one ATR aircraft to the lessors.
The airline currently has a fleet of 71 planes, comprising Airbus A-319s, A-320s and A-321s as well as ATRs. However, sources said at least 12 of its aircraft are on ground for maintenance and repairs, taking the effective fleet size to 59. When contacted, the airline said the planes were returned as part of its planned capacity reduction programme.
“As part of a planned capacity reduction programme initiated last year, Kingfisher Airlines has returned a total of 17 aircraft between December 1, 2008 and August 12, 2009 back to lessors,” the airline spokesperson said in a statement.
Kingfisher had in February this year announced a 21%reduction in its operations due to the falling passenger demand at that time. The airline has posted a net loss of Rs 242.71 crore in Q1 of financial year 2009-10. It operates 400 flights a day and has a network of 72 destinations.
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