Kingfisher Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Maldives, Kuala Lumpur flights soon

Kingfisher Airlines has said that it would add seven more international flights to its roster of flights, by April 2009.

As of now Kingfisher’s international offerings are limited to London and Colombo.

Kingfisher Airlines plans to operate flights in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka, Dubai and Maldives. Earlier Kingfisher had said that it will announce a Bangalore-Dubai flight, Mumbai-Bangkok flight, and a Bangalore-Bangkok flight in February 2009.

Kingfisher Airlines has also said that they plan to extend their service network to locations in the Gulf, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

To this end, the airline will hire international crew when they receive approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Kingfisher Airlines has also launched daily direct Chennai-Colombo and Bangalore-Colombo flights, on January 20, 2009.

The Kingfisher Airlines Chennai – Colombo flight will arrive in Colombo at 8.15am, while the Bangalore- Colombo will reach Colombo at 4.20 PM.

Kingfisher Airlines had launched Bangalore-London flights in September 2008. The airline launched its Mumbai-London flight on January 5, 2009. Both the flights have been received well by passengers with load factors in the range of 70 – 80 per cent.

Kingfisher Airlines is based in Bengaluru India and is owned by liquor baron and Formula One team owner Vijay Mallya. The airline has a network of 38 destinations. It operates 218 flights every day from Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad.

Kingfisher Airlines has a 50 per cent stake in the erstwhile Air Deccan, which has now been rebranded as Kingfisher Red.

Kingfisher was hit by high fuel prices in early 2008. Its first two quarter results in 2008-2009 were not too good. But Kingfisher’s current expansion plans suggest that the third quarter results were definitely an improvement on the previous quarters, although the third quarter results have not been released yet by the company.

In September 2008, Kingfisher Airlines was voted as the most admired airline brand in the Asia-Pacific region.

Kingfisher Airlines has a five-star rating from Skytrax, which it shares with Asiana Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways.

Reports say that Kingfisher Airlines holds 27 per cent of the Indian Aviation market. Kingfisher Red, is said to have flown 11.26 million passengers in 2008, compared to 12.01 million passengers that Jet Airways had ferried.