Fliers booked to travel on Kingfisher Airlines flights maintain to be worried as the Mumbai airport will allow the airline to activate its flights only if it pays Rs50 lakh every day.
On Friday, the cash strapped airline paid the Mumbai airport the first installment of Rs50 lakh to get authorization to operate its flights from the city on Saturday.
“Now the airline will have to pay this amount all days to continue operations,” said a Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) official requesting anonymity, as the person is not authorized to speak to the media.
The amount due by the airline is the airport’s landing fee and aircraft parking charges. The airline has been put on cash and carry form as it has defaulted on the payment for the past six months.
The airline owes the Mumbai airport Rs90 crore for the past six months, according to a observe sent by MIAL to Kingfisher on Thursday.
“The Rs50 lakh daily payment by the airline was planned by adding previous dues and current charges,” the MIAL official said.
“We would like to comfort our guests that all our flights will keep on to operate as normal as per the revised schedule available on our website,” read a statement by the airline.
Travel agents said they had begun getting anxious calls for fliers but not many have cancelled their bookings yet.
“People have been asking if it is safe to reserve with Kingfisher, but as the airline is offering discounted fares, tickets sales have not been hampered,” said Anup Kanuga, owner, Bathija Travels.
