Kingfisher set to launch International flights from 3rd September 2008

Vijay Mallya spearheaded Kingfisher Airlines plans to launch its first international flight on September 3 with a direct Bangalore-London flight.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last month granted permission to Deccan Aviation Limited to fly to 13 countries from August 26, the day the airline would be completing the mandatory five years of domestic operations to become eligible for overseas operations.Kingfisher and Deccan Aviation have now merged. Under normal circumstances, Kingfisher would have to wait for two more years to complete the five-year term mandatory to be eligible for overseas flying.But now the government has allowed Kingfisher to fly overseas under both brands, Deccan and Kingfisher. A senior official of DGCA confirmed the granting of permission to the airline to conduct overseas operations. The domestic air-carrier now plans to launch flights to the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, Thailand, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Hong Kong.