Private airlines owe 14573 to PSU banks

Private airlines owe a total of Rs 14,573 crore to state-run banks, with loss making air carriers Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways together accounting for almost 80 per cent of the outstanding as on the second quarter of 2011-12. While country's second largest airline Jet Airways owes Rs 5,899 crore to public banks, the outstanding amount of struggling air carrier Kingfisher Airlines is Rs 5,748 crore, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today. He was giving details of total loans given to private airlines as on the second quarter of last fiscal. One being asked if State Bank of India, leader of consortium of lenders to debt-strapped Kingfisher Airlines, plans to lend more to the company, Meena said the lender "has not extended any further relief to Kingfisher Airlines". Kingfisher Airlines has a debt of Rs 7,057.08 crore and the financial crunch has hit its operations with dozens of flights being either cancelled or clubbed