Further to all the noise about the grounding of Kingfisher’s fleet last weekend and further cutbacks in service, there is now an update from Kingfisher Airlines on the trimmed down schedule it is now operating. With the 28 aircraft the airline has kept in the air right now, they are expected to fly about 170 flights a day. I’m breaking it into two parts and posting the international operations first. London: 1 daily service from Delhi and Mumbai daily now on the A330. Singapore: Mumbai – Singapore – Mumbai downgraded to A320 till March 24, back to A330 from March 25 onwards. Dhaka: Kolkata (CCU) – Dhaka (DAC) – Kolkata (CCU) continues on the ATR-66. Colombo: Operations only from Chennai…
Kingfisher Airlines
Tag Archives for Kingfisher Airlines.
Kingfisher staff quits en-mass, partial operations shut domestic and internationally
The murk with Kingfisher Airlines gets deeper by the day. The airline has a foot-to-mouth existence for the past few months and we all know that. They haven’t been able to pay salaries to the staff for the past 3 months, and last month there was news that many senior pilots have jumped ship to rival LCC Indigo Airlines, where they were offered a 4 month joining bonus if they signed up before 15th February 2012. There is breaking news on Indian television right now that over the past 2 days, i.e., 18th to 20th February 2012, about half the staff strength of 7,000 employees has put in their papers. As if not being paid for 3 months was not enough…
Kingfisher Airlines networth eroded! IT systems responsible for oneworld delays
Kingfisher Airlines finally came around to accepting that their networth has been eroded when it announced its results on 15th February 2012, in a quietly posted investor relations presentation on its website at midnight. This was a statement made by the auditors of the airlines quite a while back in September 2011, but Kingfisher Airlines always disputed this statement. The amusing statement tucked away in the notes to the financial statements say: The Company has incurred substantial losses and its networth has been eroded. However, having regard to capital raising plans, group support, the request made by the Company to its bankers for further credit facilities, planned reconfiguration of aircrafts and other factors, these interim financial statements have been prepared…
First glimpses of Kingfisher Airlines sporting the oneworld logo
I was over at the Mumbai Marathon 2012 like every year, and came across an interesting visual that caught my eye. Kingfisher Airlines, for whatever bad shape they are in, is on its way to joining the oneworld alliance. Now, speculation has been on all this while if they will join or not, or will they survive that far. I hope you signed on for your free Ruby status via Kingfisher. However, Kingfisher seems to be confident. They are supposed to be on board on 10th February 2012. However, a month out, they already are putting out promotional material advertising their oneworld connection at the Marathon today. Have a look: Kingfisher Elites to receive new cards If you’re a Kingfisher…
Jet Airways follows Kingfisher Airlines and Air India downhill
Airlines in India have really been taken on the downward spiral, for their own reasons. But the common thread of going down for all of them was having to offer low fares which did not even cover the cost of fuel. Everyone in the Indian aviation market blamed Air India for the predatory pricing, where they were keeping ticket prices really low, and hence everyone else had to follow suit to be competitive.The US Dollar/Indian Rupee moving 20% in the USD’s favour did not help them either, because all of a sudden, fuel costs, unhedged for all of them most of the time, were up 20%. Jet Airways, the classiest and best Indian airline for domestic travel for long, and…
Kingfisher Airlines a prime case for shutdown: DGCA
I don’t intend to be soothsayer on this blog, but at the same time not a doomsayer either! I’ve been trying to be very positive about Kingfisher Airlines in my head for a very long time, and something tells me, that if they survive this ongoing phase of problems, they will come back as a stronger service-oriented institution in the new changed environment. However, for the time being, the troubles seems to be getting bigger and bigger for them, making them perhaps a case for being jilted from oneworld before they get to join, just like AI got the boot from Star Alliance. I love those guys, seriously. They gave me 2 free domestic Kingfisher First class tickets last year, on…
Status for free and discounts with Kingfisher KingClub till Dec 31, 2011
Kingfisher’s loyalty program KingClub is offering free status to premium MasterCard holders all the way uptil December 31, 2011. To register, you should have an eligible MasterCard (Platinum, World, Titanium Credit Cards or a Premium Debit Card), and you have to plonk the first 6 digits on the Kingfisher website here, to get your upgraded status. Titanium and Platinum tiers get Kingfisher KingClub Red tier, but World MasterCard users get KingClub Silver. Please note, this promotion works when you open a new account with Kingfisher Airlines KingClub, and not on existing accounts. You also get 250 miles credited for opening your account, and if you fill up your details to complete the profile, another 500 come your way. In the…
Kingfisher Airlines set to join the oneworld alliance in February 2012
The oneworld alliance and Kingfisher Airlines announced today that they had picked a date for the welcome of Kingfisher Airlines onboard the alliance, and February 10, 2012 onwards, IT will be a full member. This will make Kingfisher the first airline from India to head into an alliance, after Star Alliance and Air India quite did not work out as of July 2011. It is good news that despite its recent financial difficulties the airline will now be the 13th carrier to come on board the alliance. In 2010, British Airways had sponsored the application for Kingfisher to become a full member, and both have been working together on various parts of the partnership to close this to its logical…
A comprehensive update on Kingfisher Airlines route network due to withdrawal from 12 cities
Since I published my last travel update on the situation at Kingfisher Airlines, there are a lot more changes emerging on an ongoing basis at Kingfisher Airlines. They had earlier announced the withdrawal of 31 flights till November 19, which then turned out to be 50 flights per day on an ongoing basis. Turns out, some of these changes might be permanent. I round up for all of your benefit the routes which are going to get affected and any updates till what time these cancellations/withdrawals may be valid. International Routes The following services are cancelled till further notice: Kochi (COK) – Colombo (CMB) [IT079/IT080] Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) – Colombo (CMB) [IT077/IT078] Mumbai (BOM) – Bangkok (BKK) [IT023/IT024] Delhi (DEL) –…
Birdwatch: Photo # 3 (Kingfisher Airlines)
This past week, when I was ready to take off from Mumbai Airport Terminal 1C, I saw Kingfisher sharing the tarmac with us. So, it got clicked! Here is the picture for all of you! Airline: Kingfisher Airlines (originally Air Deccan) Location: Mumbai Airport Terminal 1C Airframe: Airbus 320 If you want to share a picture of a plane, an airport, or anything aviation related, please send it across to aj@livefromalounge.com with the details and I’ll put it up here. Thank you!
Reminder: Earn 20% more KingClub Miles on transfer before 30th Nov 2011
Just a quick reminder for those who intend to be making some bookings on Kingfisher Airlines in the award category. The special promotion which has been running this quarter to offer 20% extra miles free is going to end on 30th November 2011. Like I mentioned earlier in September 2011, this offer is valid till November 30, 2011. Here is what you have to do to avail 20% bonus KingClub Miles. Transfer worth 5000 miles worth from your credit card program or hotel programs to the King Club, and Kingfisher will add a 20% on top of it while crediting the miles. Take note, that different programs have different equivalents for the KingClub Miles, and hence you have to use…
