Flights of the ailing Kingfisher Airlines have been grounded once again on June 19 after the state owned Hindustan Petroleum stopped supplying fuel the carrier. Reports said that at least three flights from Delhi were grounded and even the services in Mumbai were affected.
Kingfisher Airlines pays the HPCL Rs. 3.5 to 4 crores daily for jet fuel and already owes the supplies Rs. 450 crores. HPCL is the biggest airline fuel supplier and had stopped the fuel supply in the month of March over the non-payment of dues.
At present the airline is operating on a cash and carry basis by the oil companies. This means that the company has to pay an up front amount to get each day. Kingfisher owes Rs. 200 crores to the oil companies.
In the year 2010-11 suffered a loss of Rs. 1,027 crore and has a debt of Rs. 7,057. About the fuel supplies, it was resumed shortly after the airline made payment. However, there wasn’t much delay in the flight schedule as the fuel supply stoppage happened in the afternoon when Kingfisher had a few flights to operate. After the supplies were resumes insiders revealed that the issue has been solved.
