Kingfisher may fly abroad on Sept. 3

Mumbai, Aug. 17: 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 Bengaluru on September 3," said a Kingfisher Airlines official.

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.

Kingfisher and Deccan Aviation 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 the government has allowed Kingfisher to fly overseas under both brands - Deccan and Kingfisher. A senior official of DGCA confirmed the granting of permission to the airline to conduct overseas operations.

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

Apart from London the other destinations are presently being fine-tuned, the airline official said.

The domestic air-carrier plans to deploy an Airbus 330-200 on the Bengaluru-London sector. — PTI