Kingfisher to increase international services

BANGALORE: Kingfisher Airlines, which had rapidly expanded its international network till a few years ago, is now looking at increasing frequency of service to these destinations instead of adding more places. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the company���s 14th annual general meeting (AGM), Vijay Mallya, chairman and CEO of the company, said that the recently-launched flights from Mumbai to Singapore and Hong Kong have been received well by the market.

���We are operating to Dubai, Hong Kong, Thailand, London and Singapore and intend to increase frequencies. We are looking at new routes only from next year, but have to be cautious. In the domestic market, KF Airlines intends to launch services to Ludhiana and Pantnagar, which till date had no proper air connectivity,��� he said.

He said that the airline was focussed on revenues and not on other variables, such as market share or seat (load) factor.

It was not in the habit of discounting its fares that could eventually question the economic fundamentals of the business. Mr Mallya said that the airlines intended to complete its fund-raising plans at the earliest.

The company plans to mop up around Rs 1,000 crore through a rights and global depository receipt (GDR) issue. It is also learnt that the company had utilised Rs 1,050 crore of the Rs 2,000 crore line of credit secured from a consortium of Indian banks earlier this year.

He said that the company had paid off all its dues to both the Airport Authority of India (AAI) as well as the oil marketing companies (OMCs).

While refusing to comment on the ongoing pilot strike in Air India, Mr Mallya regretted attempts made to disrupt customer service.

While noting that business sentiments had improved since last August, he noted that the 30% compounded growth rate witnessed during the past five years is not expected to be restored early. ���The growth of civil aviation is linked to GDP growth,��� he said.