Kingfisher Airlines ticket counters remain closed in Mumbai on Wednesday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Feb. 22: Kingfisher Airlines today proposed to the government that it would operate 175 daily flights with 28 aircraft till March.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, stung by the ailing carrier’s decision to cancel flights without informing the regulator, had ordered the airline to prepare a “realistic” flight schedule.

At the onset of the winter schedule in October, the Vijay Mallya carrier had proposed more that 400 daily flights with a fleet of 64.

Kingfisher has partially resumed flights from Calcutta, operating four to the Northeast, even as it cancelled 14 flights from Mumbai, eight from Bangalore and two from Delhi. The entire operation in Calcutta was shut down from Friday night.

The airline claims the income tax department’s move to freeze its accounts was partly responsible for the large-scale disruption of flights. Kingfisher, which suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010-11 and has a debt of Rs 7,057 crore, reported a Rs 444-crore loss in the third quarter of this fiscal.

Bailout possibilities

Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh today said the government had taken policy steps such as allowing airlines to directly import jet fuel to help the sector but ruled out any bailout for Kingfisher.

“The government is not going to bail it out, but we hope Kingfisher can mobilise its resources somehow because if they don’t there will be more problems for passengers,” he said.

The minister also said the government would not pressurise banks for a bailout. “If banks see promise in its (Kingfisher’s) business plan, they will lend and we will welcome it,” Singh said.

The RBI has said banks can lend to the ailing airline if they find the loans are within prudential norms.

Banking sources said no fresh loan to the airline was being considered.

“What we are looking at is a debt restructuring package… which could forgive some interest payment and reschedule payback of the rest (principal and interest),” top bankers, who are part of a 13-bank consortium, said.

Bankers say they have made it clear that Kingfisher’s parent, the United Breweries group, has to bring in fresh funds into the airline for bankers to consider fresh loans.