India's struggling Kingfisher Airlines posts large loss

1. Vijay Mallya, owner of Kingfisher Airlines, arriving for news conference 2. Mallya walking onto stage 3. Mallya on the stage addressing the press 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vijay Mallya, part-owner of Kingfisher Airlines: "It was a commercially prudent decision, we cannot as a private company afford to fly on routes that are heavily loss making." 5. Cutaway of reporters 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vijay Mallya, part-owner of Kingfisher Airlines: "So to challenge or comment upon our supplier and vendor payment terms in a manner that consistently suggests an immediate grounding of the airline is neither fair nor accurate." 7. Pan of news conference 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vijay Mallya, part-owner of Kingfisher Airlines: "Please allow me to clarify here and now that I have not asked the government nor the banks for any bail out package." 9. Cutaway of reporters 10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vijay Mallya, part-owner of Kingfisher Airlines: "The fact of the matter is that the entire industry is in serious trouble. I request all of you to be factual about Kingfisher, ask us questions, we will respond to you, but let not all the spotlight be on Kingfisher only, look at the other players in this industry." 11. Mallya leaving news conference STORYLINE: The part-owner of India's beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines blamed high fuel taxes and airport charges for its woes on Tuesday after posting a quarterly loss of 4.69 billion rupees (93 (m) million dollars) amid cancellations of hundreds of flights. Vijay Mallya, the brewery tycoon who is part-owner of India's second-biggest airline, said the cancellations of flights was a "commercially prudent decision" because the routes in question were incurring huge losses. He told reporters that Kingfisher hadn't asked the government or its banks for a bailout or failed to pay its fuel suppliers. The airline's quarterly sales of 15.3 billion rupees (303 (m) million dollars) were up from 13.8 billion rupees (274 (m) million dollars) in the same period of 2010. But its quarterly loss widened from the 2.31 billion rupees (46 (m) million dollars) of red ink reported a year earlier. Mallya blamed India's high landing tariffs and fuel taxes in a market already struggling under the burden of high fuel costs, price wars and an 11 percent drop in the value of the Indian rupee over the past year. Mallya said fuel prices were at near-record highs and airlines have struggled with the additional burden of steep sales taxes levied by state governments on aviation fuel. Other airlines have been suffering as well. State-owned Air India has lost more than 200 (b) billion rupees (3.98 billion dollars) since 2007. Jet Airways, which carries more passengers than any other Indian airline, lost 7.1 (b) billion rupees (140 (m) million dollars) last quarter, blaming low traffic, high fuel prices, the depreciating rupee and a price war among airlines. Low-cost airline SpiceJet lost 2.4 (b) billion rupees (50 (m) million dollars) in the quarter. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested that he would look into Kingfisher's problems but he did not say what actions might be considered. Mallya said he was grateful for the prime minister's comments, although he hadn't asked the government or Kingfisher's banks for a bailout or easier debt repayment terms. Mallya said the airline was also in compliance with payment agreements with the oil companies that sell it fuel. News reports have said that its creditor banks - including SBI, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Punjab National Bank _ have been discussing a possible restructuring of the airline's debts of more than 1.4 (b) billion dollars. Kingfisher has been in the red since beginning operations in 2005. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4b18e30c47a57f5e0ad7437244234ed2 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork