Kingfisher to resume payment of staff salaries

MUMBAI, India - Kingfisher Airlines will resume payment of staff salaries starting this week after tax authorities unfroze its bank accounts, the airline's chairman and managing director, liquor baron Vijay Mallya, said in a letter to employees.

Kingfisher's bank accounts were frozen by tax authorities in February, restricting the carrier's ability to make salary and other payments to keep its day-to-day operations running smoothly, leading to the grounding of most of its fleet.

Mallya is under pressure from his airline's lenders to inject equity into Kingfisher, which has debt of $1.3 billion.