India's aviation regulator on Wednesday said it has found 267 slots unused by various airlines out of the total of 1,900 flight operation slots granted to the domestic carriers in the ongoing winter schedule.

"We have found that in total, there are 267 slots unused by airlines out of the total of 1,910 slots allotted in the winter schedule," a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told media. 

According to the official, the regulator has asked the airports to submit proposals on how to utilise the vacant slots. "We have asked them (airports) to submit a report on how to utilise the vacant slots," the official said.

Asked if the slots may be transferred from defaulting airlines to other carriers, the official said this would be decided after the airports submit their report. "The decision is likely by the end of the week."

Earlier, the DGCA had warned the airlines on flight cancellations and said that it is monitoring the flight operations of all airlines on the respective slots allotted to them.

"We are reviewing the slot position as well. Every airline is bound by route dispersal guidelines and the government will take a decision on it," E.K. Bharat Bhushan, director general of civil aviation, had told reporters on the sidelines of an industry event here.

The developments had come as airline major Kingfisher began curbing its daily flights for more than a week and other airlines like Indigo and Spice Jet also cancelled a huge number of flights from the permitted daily operation level by the DGCA.

The DGCA had issued a notice to all the three airlines regarding flight cancellations. It later said it has received the replies from all three.

 IANS