Kingfisher plans to launch its first intl flight on Sept 3

Vijay Mallya-spearheaded Kingfisher Airlines, plans to launch its first international flight on September 3 with a direct Bangalore-London flight.        

"The countdown has begun. We are all set to fly to London from Bangalore on September 3," a Kingfisher Airlines official said.        

The airline has already secured permission to fly to 13 overseas destinations.        

A senior DGCA official confirmed the granting of permission to the airline to conduct overseas operations.        

Kingfisher now plans to launch flights to the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, Thailand, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Hong Kong.        

"We are fully geared up for our London flight scheduled for September 3," the Kingfisher official said, adding schedules for the other destinations are presently being fine-tuned.    
    
Kingfisher plans to deploy an Airbus 330-200 on the Bangalore-London sector.        

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last month granted permission to Deccan Aviation Limited to fly to 13 countries from August 26, the day the airline would be completing the mandatory five years of domestic operations to become eligible for overseas operations.        

Kingfisher and Deccan Aviation, originally promoted by Captain Gopinath, have now merged.        

Under normal circumstances, Kingfisher would have to wait for two more years to complete the five-year term mandatory to become eligible for overseas flying.        

But now, following the merger with Deccan, the Government has allowed Kingfisher to fly overseas under both brands-Simplyfy Deccan and Kingfisher.