KFA seeks more time to reply to DGCA notice, may lose licence

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is likely to suspend flying licence of Kingfisher Airlines as the airline has failed to reply to the show-cause notice issued by the aviation regulator.

The DGCA had issued the notice on October 5, asking the airline why its flying licence should not be cancelled. The deadline for replying to the notice was Friday.

"A day before Kingfisher's last day to reply to our show-cause notice, the airline has sent a reply asking for more time, without specifying any date, from us. This is a clear case of airline trying to buy time from us and the suspension of their flying licence is on cards. We will take a call by next week," said a senior DGCA official.

Things may not change much in the Indian aviation space if Kingfisher's licence is revoked by the DGCA, as the airline has not been operating for over 20 days now. After suspension, the airline will not be allowed to sell tickets.

"The airline's reply is in four parts. In the first part, they are talking about the industrial unrest and how they are trying to resolve it. In the second part, they are informing us about their history by informing us about their operations," said the official.

Kingfisher welcomed the move to allow investment by foreign airlines in Indian carriers in the third part of the reply.

"Only in the fourth part of their reply, they are asking for more time to reply to the show-cause notice without specifying any period," the official added.

Kingfisher had first announced a partial lock out till October 4 as employees stopped reporting to work, protesting against the non-payment of salaries for the last six months.

On October 5 DGCA issued the notice to Kingfisher asking why its flying license should not be suspended or cancelled as it had grounded its entire fleet and failed to offer safe, efficient and reliable service.

ALSO READ

After lull, highway projects see aggressive bid offers

PM: Govt initiating more measures to attract investments

Cautious RBI cuts repo by 25 bps, says little space for more easing

‘Govt mulling stronger laws to block Ponzi schemes’