Kingfisher stops bookings, hopes to re-start operations soon

Troubled Kingfisher airlines, whose flying licence was suspended by the DGCA, tonight said it has stopped taking booking of tickets till it resumes operations.

"We are now immediately suspending all forward bookings till such time we resume operations," Kingfisher spokesperson said in a statement, adding it's "our endeavour to re-start operations at the earliest and we assure you we are working towards achieving this".

The airline said it had received an order of the Director General of Civil Aviation suspending its scheduled operator's permit. "We would like to clarify that this is not a cancellation but a temporary suspension which is valid only till such time that we submit a concrete and reliable revival plan to the satisfaction of the DGCA," the spokesperson said.

The DGCA today suspended the Scheduled Operator Permit (SOP) of Kingfisher Airlines following its failure to come up with a viable plan of financial and operational revival.

Maintaining that the actual position has not changed because of this order, the spokesperson said the airline had always maintained that once the issues with the employees were resolved, it would first present its resumption plan to DGCA for review, before resuming operations.

"Notwithstanding the order of the DGCA, we had in any case suspended operations and closed forward bookings till November 6, 2012. The management has already earlier communicated to all stakeholders this very position," the spokesperson said.