Kingfisher Airlines, India’s only Five Star Airline rated by Skytrax, announced that the Government of India has granted it traffic rights to operate on seven new international routes. The new international routes for which traffic rights have been granted are:

1. New Delhi – London – New Delhi
2. New Delhi – Hong Kong – New Delhi
3. New Delhi – Bangkok – New Delhi
4. New Delhi – Dubai – New Delhi
5. Mumbai – Colombo- Mumbai
6. Mumbai – Bangkok- Mumbai
7. Mumbai – Dubai – Mumbai

Commenting on the grant of these new traffic rights, Dr, Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said, “I am delighted to announce that Kingfisher Airlines will soon be commencing flights from New Delhi to London Heathrow along with six other new international routes. The launch of these new flights will further enhance the international route network of Kingfisher Airlines. The addition of these new services will mean that we will now be able to further leverage the unparalleled domestic route network of Kingfisher Airlines to maximize yields. With their unique domain expertise in aviation in general and in network planning in particular, Seabury, our globally renowned advisors will ensure excellent connectivity for all these new services”.

Sharing his perspective, Dr. Mallya added, “We may even look at inducting new aircraft into our fleet sooner than planned so that we are fully geared to capitalize on the upturn. We are actively pursuing various options for fund raising and our plans are on track. Given the tremendous equity that Seabury enjoys with global investors, Kingfisher Airlines is benchmarking itself against the best in the world. At a time when the industry is facing remarkably difficult challenges to becoming profitable, the appointment of Seabury is a proactive step taken towards ensuring that the Leadership Team is supported by and has access to seasoned advisors with proven expertise in aviation”.

The flights on the New Delhi-London-New Delhi and New Delhi-Hong Kong-New Delhi routes will be operated using Airbus A330 aircraft while flights on the other routes will be operated using the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. The start dates for the launch of flights on these new routes will be announced at a later date.