The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has asked the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines to stop booking tickets immediately as it was yet to come clean on safety issue. A notice was sent to the Airline following reports that it planned to resume normal operations from 13th of this month. A senior DGCA official today said in New Delhi that the DGCA is still to get a reply from the Kingfisher Airlines management on the various issues, including safety and certification for air operations. Till a clearance is granted by the DGCA, the airline cannot resume normal operations and start selling tickets.

AIR correspondent reports, Kingfisher Airlines was accepting bookings despite instructions from the DGCA to suspend them. The airline management has extended the partial lockout till 12th of this month and is accepting bookings on its website beyond the date. The airline has however put out a notice on its website that all its flights are subject to regulatory approval.

Last Friday the DGCA Arun Mishra issued a show cause notice to the airline why its operating permit should not be suspended in the wake of employee protests over unpaid salaries. Mishra has directed the airline not to accept fresh bookings till the regulator reviews the airline's operations plan..

However despite the directive the airline continues to accept the bookings. Tickets were available on Mumbai-Delhi route from 13th of this month while search for the previous date said no flight found.

Before it decided to suspend operations Kingfisher was operating only nine of its 40-odd planes linking metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore and few tier-II towns with turboprops. It has a market share of 3.2 percent which is the lowest amongst all the domestic airlines.