Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines is to shut down its low-cost subsidiary to concentrate on full service operations.
Kingfisher Red flights will end in four months due to higher demand for premium seats, according to kingfisher chairman Vijay Mallya.
“We are doing away with Kingfisher Red because we don’t intend to compete in the low-cost segment,” he told an annual shareholders’ meeting.
“We believe there are more than enough guests who prefer to travel full-service, and that shows through in our own performance, where the load factors in Kingfisher Class [full-service] are more than in Kingfisher Red.”
Mallya said Kingfisher would reconfigure its aircraft to increase its capacity by 10%. He said Kingfisher is working aggressively to raise fresh capital to cut debt and is taking steps to boost operating performance.
The carrier is also considering the sale and lease-back of 35 Airbus aircraft.
Budget airlines – IndiGo, SpiceJet, JetLite and Go Airlines – together control 45.5% of the Indian market, excluding Kingfisher Red and Air India Express.