Kingfisher Airlines scrip down 5 pc on bourses

Shares of Kingfisher Airlines tumbled by about 5 per cent after the company said it was cancelling several flights on Monday due to employee unrest.

Soon after opening of trade, shares of the airline tanked 4.78 per cent to touch the lower circuit limit of Rs 15.35 on the BSE.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the scrip fell by 4.95 per cent to Rs 15.35.

Kingfisher in a statement late on Sunday night said, "We are anticipating disruptions and delays of flights today, as it is likely that a section of KF (Kingfisher) employees may not report to duty due to threat by a section of engineers who are not reporting for duty".

"With a view to mitigating the impact of the anticipated disruption, we are pro-actively cancelling several flights across our network today. We are monitoring the situation and continue to engage with this section of employees to see reason as such action is not only detrimental to the company but directly impact the travelling public," the statement said.

Meanwhile, aviation sector regulator DGCA will today review Kingfisher Airline's operations in the wake of mass cancellation of its flights, even as a section of the airlines city-based pilots joined in the strike by its engineers.

The engineers of Kingfisher went on a strike yesterday to protest the non-payment of salaries since March.

The airline, saddled with huge debt, is currently operating less than 50 flights with seven aircraft.