Kingfisher Airlines — BrandWiki

Kingfisher Airlines

airline	Kingfisher Airlines
iata	IT‡R1R‡
icao	KFR‡R1R‡
callsign	KINGFISHER‡R2R‡
parent	United Breweries Group
founded	2003
commenced	2005
ceased	2012‡R3R‡
key people	* Vijay Mallya (CMD) * Sanjay Aggarwal (CEO)
headquarters	Bengaluru, Karnataka‡R4R‡‡R5R‡
hubs	Bengaluru
secondary hubs	Delhi Mumbai
focus cities	Chennai Pune
subsidiaries	Kingfisher Xpress
revenue	inr 259827800000 (2012)
net income	inr 87659000000 (2012)
num employees	5,696 (2012)
frequent flyer	King Club
destinations	128

Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red.

Until December 2011, Kingfisher Airlines had the second largest share in India's domestic air travel market. However, the airline ran into continuous losses since its inception, ran high debts and finally closed its operations on 20 October 2012.[6]

History

Early years

Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003. It was owned by the Bengaluru based United Breweries Group. The airline started commercial operations on 9 May 2005, right after Mallya's son Sidhartha's 18th birthday, reportedly as a birthday gift, with a fleet of four new Airbus A320-200s operating a flight from Mumbai to Delhi.[7]

Bankruptcy, suspension of license and cessation of operations

In November 2011, it started to report losses. The acquisition of loss-making Bengaluru-based Air Deccan in 2007 made matters worse.[15] It was believed that Vijay Mallya and his team failed to follow due diligence with the airline and that it was this deal that brought down his empire; courtesy of N M Rothschild consultants who brokered the deal.[16] An initial name change to Simplifly Deccan, followed by Kingfisher Red, and promotion as the domestic budget Kingfisher airline failed to stem losses and Kingfisher suffered a loss of over inr 10000000000 for three consecutive years.

Its low cost carrier Kingfisher Red was shut down in 2011 and in 2012 employees were not being paid salaries so they went on strike.[17][18] In a disclosure statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the airline explained: "The company has incurred substantial losses and its net worth has been eroded. However, having regard to improvement in the economic sentiment, rationalization measures adopted by the company, fleet recovery and the implementation of the debt recast package with the lenders and promoters including conversion of debt into share capital, these interim financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the company is a going concern and that no adjustments are required to the carrying value of assets and liabilities."[19][20] This filing was widely covered by Indian and international print and electronic media and analysts.[21] Kingfisher Airlines Lenders later stated they considered the company viable.[22] On 15 November 2011 the airline released poor financial results, indicating that it was "drowning in high-interest debt and losing money". Mallya indicated that his solution was for the government to reduce fuel and other taxes. The government was engaged in assessing whether to bail out the company and other airlines or let market forces determine which survived.[23]

In December 2011, for the second time in two months, Kingfisher's bank accounts were frozen by the Mumbai Income Tax department for non-payment of dues. The firm owed inr 700000000 to the tax department at the time.[24]

By early 2012, the airline accumulated losses of over inr 70000000000 with half of its fleet grounded and several members of its staff going on strike. Kingfisher's position in top Indian airlines on the basis of market share had slipped from second to last due to the crisis. Mallya was looking for buyers for the Vile Parle Kingfisher House.[25] With the freezing of the bank accounts of the airline by the Indian Income Tax Department, the airline was in financial disarray.[26]

On 20 October 2012, Kingfisher Airlines suspended its operations after its licence was suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation after it failed to address the Indian regulator's concerns about its operations.[27] On 25 February 2013, its international flying rights and domestic slots were scrapped by the Indian aviation authorities.[3]

In July 2014, Kingfisher Airlines' indebtedness appeared as the country's state-owned banks' top non-performing asset after failing to repay loans of over inr 40000000000.[28]

On 2 March 2016 after nearly four years of the bankruptcy of Kingfisher Airlines, the consortium of 13 Indian Banks led by State Bank of India moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal to recover its dues which included Rs 9,000 crores owed by its promoter Vijay Mallya. By that time Mallya had left India for the UK despite court proceedings by Indian banks initiated against him. Two years later the British Courts ordered extradition of Mallya after a prolonged legal battle and Mallya could be brought back to India if his appeal against the court order is not turned down.

Services

Cabin

Domestic

The domestic Kingfisher First, offered on some Airbus A320 family aircraft only, provided seats with a 48 inch and 126-degree recline. There were laptop and mobile phone chargers on every seat. There was also a steam ironing service onboard Kingfisher First cabins. Every seat was equipped with a personalised IFE system with AVOD which offered a wide range of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, 16 live TV channels and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio.

The domestic Kingfisher Class had 32 to 34 inch seat pitch. Every seat was equipped with personal IFE systems with AVOD on board the Airbus A320 family aircraft. As in Kingfisher First, passengers could access movies, English and Hindi TV programmes, a few live TV channels powered by DishTV, and Kingfisher Radio. Passengers were served meals on most flights. Before take-off, passengers were served bottled lemonade.

Kingfisher First

Kingfisher Class

International

Kingfisher offered an international business/first product called Kingfisher First which featured full flat-bed seats with 180-degree recline, a pitch of 78 inch and width of 20 to 24.54 inch.[36] Passengers were given Merino wool blankets, a Salvatore Ferragamo toiletry kit, pajamas, five-course meals, and alcoholic beverages. In-seat massagers, chargers, and USB connectors were also available. Every Kingfisher First seat had a 17 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touchscreen controls. It offered 357 hours of programming content spread over 36 channels, including Hollywood and Bollywood movies along with 16 channels of live TV, so passengers could watch their favorite TV programs live. There was also a collection of interactive games, a jukebox with customizable playlists, and Kingfisher Radio. Passengers are given BOSE noise-cancellation headphones. The service on board the Kingfisher First cabins included a social area comprising a full-fledged bar staffed with a bartender, a break-out seating area just nearby fitted with two couches and bar stools, a full-fledged chef on board the aircraft, and any-time dining. A turn-down service included converting the seat into a fully flat bed and a Flight Attendant making the bed when the passenger is ready to sleep.

The international Kingfisher Class seats offered a pitch of 34 inch, a width of 18 inch and recline of 25 degrees (6 inch). Passengers received full-length modacrylic blankets and full-size pillows. Each Kingfisher Class seat had a 10.6 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touchscreen controls. The IFE was similar to that of the international Kingfisher First class.

Domestic

Kingfisher First

Kingfisher Class

International

In-flight entertainment

Kingfisher's IFE system was the Thales TopSeries i3000/i4000 on board the Airbus A320 family aircraft, and Thales TopSeries i5000 on board the Airbus A330 family aircraft provided by the France-based Thales Group.[37] Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to have in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems on every seat even on domestic flights. The inflight magazines were special editions of magazines owned by Mallya's media publishing house (VJM Media) viz. ''Hi! Blitz for domestic flights and Hi! Living'' for international flights. Initially, passengers were able to watch only recorded TV programming on the IFE system, but later an alliance was formed with Dish TV to provide live TV in-flight.[38]

Loyalty programme

The frequent-flyer program of Kingfisher Airlines was called the King Club in which members earned King Miles every time they flew with Kingfisher or its partner airlines, hotels, car rental, finance and lifestyle businesses. There were four levels in the scheme: Red, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. Members could redeem points over a number of schemes. Platinum, Gold and Silver members enjoyed access to the Kingfisher Lounge, priority check-in, excess baggage allowance, bonus miles, and Kingfisher First upgrade vouchers.

Cargo

Kingfisher Xpress

Kingfisher Xpress was a Door-to-Door cargo delivery service launched in February 2010, being the first such service in India promising same-day pick-up in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata and delivery in up to 18 cities, namely, Siliguri, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Kochi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Raipur, Ranchi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune and Srinagar. A money-back guarantee was offered.[39]

Kingfisher Xpress

Kingfisher Lounge

Kingfisher Lounges were offered to Kingfisher First passengers, along with King Club Silver and King Club Gold members. Lounges were located in:

Kempegowda International Airport (Bengaluru)
Chennai International Airport (Chennai)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Mumbai)
Cochin International Airport (Kochi)
Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi)
London Heathrow Airport (London)
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata)
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad)

Kingfisher Airlines

History

Early years

Bankruptcy, suspension of license and cessation of operations

Destinations

Kingfisher employees

Codeshare agreements

Fleet

Services

Cabin

Domestic

International

Domestic

International

In-flight entertainment

Loyalty programme

Cargo

Kingfisher Xpress

Kingfisher Xpress

Kingfisher Lounge

Accidents and incidents

In popular culture

See also

External links

References