Kingfisher Airlines slides 5 pc; hits lower circuit

MUMBAI, Feb 27:  Shares of Kingfisher Airlines continued its downslide on the bourses today and tanked a further five per cent after the government withdrew international bilateral traffic rights and domestic slots of Kingfisher Airlines.
Spelling more trouble for beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines, the government on February 25 announced the withdrawal of all domestic and international flying slots of the grounded carrier with immediate effect and decided to allot them to other Indian airlines.
Shares of Kingfisher Airlines fell as much as five per cent on the bourses today and got stuck in the lower circuit limit of Rs 10.21 on the BSE.
The stock had witnessed similar fate yesterday, when the company had fallen by 5 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 10.74.
Flying or airport slots are rights allocated to a scheduled airline by an airport operator or government agency, granting the slot owner the right to schedule a landing or departure during a specific time period.
The withdrawal of these slots would make available around 25,000 seats per week for use by other Indian carriers to eight countries — the UK, the UAE, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Similarly, the government also decided to withdraw the domestic slots which were allocated to Kingfisher at different airports across the country to mount domestic flights.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been directed to make these slots available to other domestic carriers as per their demand. (PTI)