The vultures are circling India’s Kingfisher Airlines


India’s Kingfisher Airlines is dead (all claims by founder Vijay Mallya to the contrary) and the vultures are circling its carcass, picking up the scraps as they try to move forward. Air India is hoping to take over several of the old check-in counters at Mumbai’s airport and local LCC GoAir is hoping to move their operations into the terminal where Kingfisher was previously operating. That move would include taking over the office space in addition to flight operations. And Jet Airways has already applied to buy some of the route authorities Kingfisher surrendered when they ceased operations. More than 120 international frequencies to eight countries were idled when Kingfisher shut down.

I’m sad that Kingfisher is dead. I got to fly them in 2005 and had a great time on the short flight; I even still use the small amenity kit case I got on that flight to carry my liquids (yes, it is clear, has a zipper and is less than 1 quart). But they are dead and no amount of hoping or dreaming seems likely to change that. It is about time that the Indian aviation world moves on, letting other carriers take advantage of those resources and growing the markets.

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Seth Miller

I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

3 Comments

  1. Seems like Mallya didn’t want to put his money where his mouth is. He’s still a billionaire, right?

  2. I’m also very sad this happened. We flew Kingfisher COK-BLR a couple years ago and really enjoyed the flight. It was a good airline, great service and right on time. And being a birder, I loved their logo!

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