Mallya promises pay to KFA staff before Easter

Kingfisher Airlines will resume payment of staff salaries starting from this week after tax authorities unfroze its bank accounts, the airline's chairman and managing director, Vijay Mallya, said in a letter to employees.

"All junior staff will be paid before Easter i.e. on Wednesday April 4th. All pilots and engineers will be paid on Monday April 9th and Tuesday April 10th," Mallya told employees.

The bank accounts of the struggling airline, which were frozen by tax officials, were unfrozen on Sunday after the airline paid a total of Rs 64 crore to various tax authorities before March 31, Mallya said.

Mallya is under pressure from his airline's lenders to inject equity into Kingfisher, which has debt of over Rs 5,000 crore and has slashed its flight schedule and grounded most of its fleet.