India's Kingfisher Airlines plans to launch seven new international routes to Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

India's government has granted it traffic rights to start the new services, it says.

The seven new routes are: New Delhi-London, New Delhi-Hong Kong, New Delhi-Bangkok, New Delhi-Dubai, Mumbai-Colombo, Mumbai-Bangkok, and Mumbai-Dubai.

Start dates for the new services will be announced at a later date, says Kingfisher, which did not say how frequent the services will be operated.

The flights to London and Hong Kong will use Airbus A330s, while the other services will use A320 family aircraft, adds the carrier.

"The launch of these new flights will further enhance the international route network of Kingfisher," says the airline's chairman and CEO Vijay Mallya.

Kingfisher is also looking at acquiring new aircraft sooner, he adds.

"We may even look at inducting new aircraft into our fleet sooner than planned so that we are fully geared to capitalise on the upturn. We are actively pursuing various options for fund raising and our plans are on track," says Mallya.

Kingfisher recently appointed management consulting firm Seabury Aviation & Aerospace to help improve its financial performance, after it reported three loss-making quarters.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news