Tag Archives: Vijay Mallya

Opinion: Why are tax-payer funded banks going easy on Kingfisher Airlines loans recovery?

by Devesh Agarwal The consortium of banks which lent vast sums of money to Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines seem to be making a mockery and charade of recovering almost Rs. 7,000 Crore worth of loans from the airline and its guarantors. The question is why? As per a Mint report, SBI, the leader of the creditors’ consortium, has the …

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Indian Aviation Review 2012. Part 2: The airlines’ analyses

by Vinay Bhaskara As promised, here is the second part of Indian Aviation’s 2012 review, with an airline by airline analysis of the events in 2012. Air India 2012 was another banner year in Air India’s agonizingly slow death spiral. Whether it was yet more labor turmoil related to the still not completed merger with Indian Airlines, a botched Entry …

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Vijay Mallya shifts ownership of his Airbus A319 private jet VT-VJM away from Kingfisher Airlines

In what could be a move to protect his personal toys, UB Group has transferred the operational ownership of the ultra-luxurious Airbus A319-133ACJ (Airbus Corporate Jet) used by Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya out of Kingfisher Airlines. In its previous avatar, VT-VJM used to sport a tail with the Kingfisher Airlines logo and used to operate with the radio call …

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Opinion: A date of ignominy in the Kingfisher Airline calendar

2010 Kingfisher Calendar. Copyright KingfisherWorld Kingfisher is known for its super-sexy swimsuit calendar, featuring some of the most beautiful women in the world, and Kingfisher Airline’s Chairman Dr. Vijay Mallya’s son, Sidhartha, may love cavorting on the beach with them, but yesterday, October 4, 2012, witnessed a tragedy, and was, to borrow the words of FDR, a date that will …

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Survey: The Kingfisher Airlines drama continues. Is the airline ready for euthanasia?

Employees of Kingfisher Airlines have finally reached a breaking point. The airline, blaming the employees has declared a lockout Kingfisher Airlines Limited today announced that following a series of protracted and unabated incidents of violence, criminal intimidation, assault, wrongful restraint and other illegal acts including refraining from attending work, by a small section of recalcitrant employees which were all unnecessary …

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Kingfisher Q1 FY2013 analysis – losses exceed three times the revenue. Is the end near?

Beleaguered full service carrier Kingfisher Airlines has served notice of its dire straits, by reporting a massive Rs. 963.3 Crore net pre-tax loss in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012~2013. Even as Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya wrote a controversial letter to Kingfisher’s employees asking them to work without pay for the next few months, it appears that Kingfisher …

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Topic of the week: Vijay Mallya threatens to stop supporting Kingfisher Airlines

Yesterday, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya sent out a letter to his employees, ostensibly in response to the industrial action by its employees earlier this week that led to the cancellation of more than 30 flights out of Mumbai and Delhi. Unlike earlier letters which were much softer, this time, Dr. Mallya did not mince words. He informs employees of …

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Kingfisher Airlines’ strikes lead to flight cancellations and disruptions

The Press Trust of India is reporting that disgruntled employees of the financially ailing Kingfisher Airlines went on a wildcat strike at Mumbai and Delhi earlier today which led to the cancellation of over 30 flights, with ripple disruptions across the airline’s national network. The protesters were mostly pilots and engineers who are protesting non-payment of their salaries for many …

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Your views: Topic of the week: The future of Kingfisher Airlines? Tatas should acquire?

Continuing our weekly interactive post where we seek your views, this week we discuss Kingfisher Airlines. Whether due to his own poor planning and execution, or as some conspiracy theorists will have you believe, there is no doubt, in the case of Kingfisher Airlines, Dr. Vijay Mallya has been systematically pushed against the wall. Kingfisher Airlines is now a weight …

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Employee Relations, Payment Defaults Hinder Kingfisher’s re-structuring

The damning evidence against Kingfisher continues to mount, as a new report from the UK High Court claims that the embattled airline owes $21.6 million (Rs. 109.06 Crore) to the Bank of Scotland for overdue lease payments on 10 ATR 72-500 aircraft. The action was brought by Bank of Scotland on behalf of a consortium of lenders against Kingfisher parent …

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Kingfisher Airlines Q3 FY2012 financial analysis

The past few days have been admittedly brutal for Kingfisher. Whether it was suspending flights entirely from Kolkata, or dealing with a particularly critical journalist, the events that befell Kingfisher stopped just short of catastrophic. The immediate pressure appears to have been relieved by loans from State Bank of India, which will go further onto the hook for Kingfisher to …

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FDI is not a panacea; but a step in the right direction

When new Indian civil aviation Minister Ajit Singh announced that the national government would soon begin the process of allowing 49% foreign direct investment (FDI) by international carriers into India’s airlines Tuesday, India’s flailing airline industry breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Following a 75 minute meeting with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Singh stated, “the question was to allow foreign …

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Kingfisher Airlines: ending in bankruptcy or survival by blackmail ?

India’s fun airline which invites you to “fly the good times” is sending shock after shock to all its stakeholders. In the last two days the airline has cancelled almost 80 flights leaving passengers across the country, running from pillar to post as their travel plans went in to complete disarray. From an earlier announcement that the airline would cancel …

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Dr. Mallya seeks to assure shareholders after media reports question Kingfisher financial viability

Over the last 15 days, Kingfisher Airlines has been savaged in the media (read articles here and here) based on a research report by analyst Neeraj Monga of Veritas Investment Research Corporation of Canada, which casts doubts on the airline’s viability. A report earlier today, in The Mint newspaper appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. The …

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Sanjay Aggarwal joins Kingfisher Airlines as CEO – a great coup for Dr. Vijay Mallya

Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines has scored a coup of sorts by bagging one of the most “eligible bachelors” in Indian aviation today — Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, appointing him as Chief Executive Officer of the airline. I am pleased to announce the appointment of Sanjay Aggarwal as Chief Executive Officer of Kingfisher Airlines Limited with immediate effect. I …

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AirAsia unveils Airbus A320 in Formula 1 team Lotus livery

On the eve of the Singapore F1 grand prix, Tony Fernandes promoted Malaysian low cost carrier AirAsia unveiled a re-painted Airbus A320-216 from its fleet in the livery of Formula 1 Team Lotus of which Dr. Fernandes is also the principal. Click on the image for a high-resolution view. The aircraft registration 9M-AFY has been flying since early August, and …

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Mallya: “We can wipe out our losses in three years”

Dr. Vijay Mallya spoke to Business Today magazine. Excerpts from that interview. The original article can be read here.———Can the ‘King of Good Times’ survive the turbulence in the current aviation downturn? In an exclusive interview that started well past midnight and continued for over two hours at his residence on Delhi’s tony Sardar Patel Marg, Mallya shed light on …

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Taxes killing aviation – Interview with Dr. Vijay Mallya

Kingfisher Airlines Chairman, Dr. Vijay Mallya, in an interview with Ashwini Phadnis of the Hindu Business Line claims it is “Taxes, not over-capacity, that is killing the Indian civil aviation sector”. The business logic to Dr. Mallya’s statement is to reduce fares by reducing the ridiculous taxation structure on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), which ensures ATF in India is almost …

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