Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today said, the Kingfisher Airlines will have to satisfy Directorate General of Civil Aviation, DGCA, on safety before it gets permission to fly again. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, he reiterated that government will ensure that Kingfisher Airlines planes must fly safely and they maintain their schedules so that there is no inconvenience to the passengers.

Mr Ajit Singh said the Kingfisher Airlines' employees were hopeful till this stage and these strikes were limited to only a section of employees but now engineers have gone on strike, raising the problem of maintenance. The Minister added that each aircraft must have an airworthiness certificate from engineers before it can fly.

Our Correspondent adds that the airline last night extended its partial lockout till the 12th of this month as talks between its management and employees failed to break the deadlock over non-payment of salaries for the last seven months. Striking engineers and pilots have rejected the airline management's offer of one month salary dues in the next few days and remaining amount once the airline is recapitalised.

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. The airline management will again talk to the employees today.