MIAL may slap eviction notice on Kingfisher

It owes Rs 22 cr towards parking and navigational charges

In fresh trouble for beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines, the Mumbai airport authorities may issue an eviction notice after the grounded carrier failed to respond to an earlier notice asking it to clear the Rs 22 crore dues towards parking and navigational charges.

The notice for clearing the dues, served 10 days ago, gave the airliner 7 days time to make the payment but it has not yet responded, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) sources told PTI today.

"We have yet to hear from Kingfisher Airlines on our notice. They were given seven days time to clear our dues and so far neither they have responded to the notice nor have made any payment," sources said speaking on condition of anonymity.

They said the airport operator may now slap an eviction notice on the cash-strapped airline and lease out the space to other carriers.

The Vijay Mallya-owned carrier has been grounded since October 1 and its flying license suspended.

The airport has two terminals. While national carrier Air India and Kingfisher (before being grounded) operate from Terminal A, the rest including Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir, operate from Terminal B.

With Kingfisher unlikely to take off in the immediate future, the airport is negotiating with other carriers to allocate them the space hitherto occupied by the Mallya-owned airline.

"Discussions are going on but we have not taken a final call," the sources said.

Kingfisher has been grounded since October 1 following a strike by its pilots and engineers over non-payment of salary dues.

The strike was called off on October 24 after the airline management assured them payment of their dues for March, April and May in a staggered manner by Diwali.

Though, it managed to pay for March and April, the carrier failed to pay the May salary to most employees barring those drawing under Rs 20,000 per month.