Mangalore: Dispute over Fuel Supply Grounds Kingfisher Flight

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Oct 14: A Kingfisher flight bound for Mumbai got stranded at the local airport on Thursday October 13, because of a dispute over refuelling.

The flight, which was scheduled to touch down here at 3.30 pm, arrived at around 5.30 pm. As there was some dispute over the issue of refuelling the aircraft, the flight got stranded here. People bound for various destinations in India and abroad had reserved their tickets through this flight. As the dispute did not get redressed for long, many people had to stay in different lodges and hotels in the city.

Another Kingfisher flight, which was to come here from Bangalore at 6.30 pm, too did not arrive. Passengers, who had booked their tickets to Bangalore for its return flight, were sent through Jet Airways.

It was not in Mangalore alone, but across the country that Kingfisher flights got cancelled or delayed due to lack of fuel supply. Oil companies have stopped their supply to Kingfisher due to mounting bills that the airline has failed to clear. Sources said that its dues ran into over Rs 500 crore.

Owned by the UB group of Vijay Mallya, the airline has been put on “a cash-and-carry payment option” by oil companies for the past 10 months. It means that payments have to be cleared daily for fuel and no credit or tabs are allowed.