Ailing Kingfisher Airlines has extended its partial lockout upto October 12th, as talks between its management and employees failed to break the deadlock over non-payment of salaries for the last seven months. The partial lock-out commenced on Monday evening. Concerned over the worsening crisis, Kingfisher's lenders held an emergency meeting in Mumbai last evening to discuss the evolving situation.

The beleaguered airline, meanwhile, got some reprieve as bankers agreed to release funds from escrow accounts, which is likely to release up to 60 crore rupees for the carrier.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh expressed doubts whether the carrier, facing a partial lockout, will resume its operations soon. He said, the airline should be in a position to get its planes certified and satisfy the DGCA that the schedule which they have given is maintained.