Kingfisher to expand routes to South Asia

BANGALORE: Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines plans expansion by foraying into the Asian skies.

Its first flight in South Asia, connecting Chennai and Bangalore with Colombo, will take off on January 19.

The airline also plans to launch a Bangalore-Dubai flight on February 8 followed by Mumbai-Bangkok and Bangalore-Bangkok flights on the February 12 and a Kolkata-Dhaka flight on the February 16.

The international operation of Kingfisher Airlines was started in September last year by connecting Bangalore to London with a non-stop daily flight. This was followed by a Mumbai-London flight that started on the first week of January.

Though the significant fall in oil prices acts in Kingfisher���s favour making route expansion less costly, industry experts believe that the present year will be tough as the economic slowdown has slashed the growth rate of air traffic.

���Even in the best economic scenario, an airline cannot reach a break even in the initial years of its international expansion,��� an analyst said. ���The current economic slowdown makes the situation even more difficult,��� he added.