National carrier Air India (AI) and Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines can breathe easy. The

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private airport operator GMR has deferred the cash and carry notice to both the airlines.

The relief has come after ministry of civil aviation’s intervention, which has asked AI to prepare comprehensive payment plan for the airport developer. “We have asked AI to clear May dues by the next week. For other arrears, the airline will make a comprehensive plan,” an aviation ministry official said.

Air India owes Rs 1,143.78 crore to all airport operators including Airports Authority of India (AAI), GMR, GVK. While private carrier Kingfisher has to pay Rs 514.73 crore to these companies. To GMR alone, the airlines owe about Rs 355.83 crore.

The ministry official said that the national carrier should be able to clear its dues by June-end as it would receive Rs 1,100 crore from the government for its VIP, Haj and special flights to Libya. “AI will get around Rs 300-400 crore for its VIP flights, while another Rs 800 crore will come from the payment of Haj and Libya flights. This should settle the dues with airport developers,” the official said.

GMR in an official release said that Kingfisher Airlines too have paid its dues to Delhi International Airport (DIAL) and Hyderabad International Airport (HIAL) for April and May 2011 and therefore, the cash and carry notice to it was deferred too.

“In case of Air India, a comprehensive payment plan has been worked out with its management, which covers repayment of all outstanding dues..Kingfisher Airlines has also put in place a structured payment plan to clear dues up to March 2011,” GMR said on Tuesday. The company said that it was in talks with both carriers for last two days and a “significant progress has been made regarding their outstanding dues.”

GMR, which operated both Delhi and Hyderabad airports, had last week announced that AI and Kingfisher would be allowed to fly only on ‘cash and carry’ basis from June 1 onwards. Under cash and carry regime, the airlines need to make daily payment of airport charges.