Kingfisher grounds all flights until October 4

Passengers intending to fly with Indian airline Kingfisher over the coming days will have to revise their travel plans.

Employee unrest, a result of staff being unpaid for many months, has forced Kingfisher management to suspend all flight operations until next Thursday at the earliest.

The decision came shortly after Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told the airline that it would not be allowed to operate if safety rules were not being observed.

Reports on livemint.com state that matters came to a head over the weekend when engineers at Delhi beat up a member of Kingfisher management and stranded passengers on one arriving aircraft by several hours when they refused to connect the airbridge linking the plane to the terminal.

Airlines warn of Olympic chaos at London airports

The heads of four leading airlines have warned the British government there could be chaos at London's airports during this summer's Olympic Games, which would cause major embarrassment to the country unless a deal can be reached over their concerns.

In a blunt letter to transport chiefs, British Airways, bmi, Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet said time was running out to tackle the expected surge in air traffic and its impact.

Failure to address their concerns could bring misery to millions of regular travellers and those coming to London for the world's biggest sporting event, the airlines argue.  

"As the situation currently stands the industry believes that there is a significant risk of severe delay and disruption at all of London's major airports unless urgent action is taken," they wrote in a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday.  

"Time is running out to ensure that any changes to procedures and the appropriate training are in place prior to the Games."  Britain, already the sixth most visited country in the world, anticipates an additional 700,000 international travellers during the Olympics, which begin on July 27.  

UK government supports EASA flight time rules

UK minister of state for transport Theresa Villiers has supported the proposed flight time regulations put forward by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), saying that new rules would offer a "significant safety gain" for UK passengers.

The UK Parliament's transport select committee today discussed the impact of EASA's proposal with Villiers, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), pilot unions and airline industry representatives.

The British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA), along with other European pilot unions, believes that the proposed harmonisation and unification of varying flight time regulations across European Union (EU) member states will lower safety standards in certain countries, such as the UK, where stricter national rules are currently in place.