Former tennis star and sports commentator Vijay Amritraj has parachuted out of Kingfisher Airlines, the last of the big-name directors to exit the crisis-ridden airline and seemingly reducing its board to a rump with just four members.

"Mr Amritraj is no longer on the (Kingfisher) board," said a communique from The Vijay Amritraj Foundation on Tuesday. The foundation refused to comment on the reasons for Amritraj's abrupt departure, only tersely saying: "Contact the (airline) management." 

A Kingfisher Airlines spokesman declined to comment for this article. The date of Amritraj's resignation from the board is not known, with the company website continuing to list him as a director. But it appears that he was associated with the company at least until mid-January, when Amritraj attended a "pre-bash" marathon event organised by Kingfisher and featuring Bollywood actor John Abraham.

Amritraj, 57, who led India to Davis Cup finals in 1974 and 1987, joined the Kingfisher board after the airline purchased low-cost carrier Air Deccan in 2007. He was previously with the Air Deccan board since 2002. 

Meanwhile, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, to study the impact of fresh flight cancellations by beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.

“'We have asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to examine the flight cancellations by Kingfisher Airlines and its implications on safety and inconvenience caused to passengers,’’' Mr Ajit Singh, Union Civil Aviation Minister, told media persons on the sidelines of the inauguration of a MRO facility at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Tuesday.

Kingfisher has cancelled further about 50 flights as the operations were hit due to strike by pilots and technical staff.

Mr Singh said Kingfisher Airlines’ promoter, Mr Vijay Mallya, had to “'marshal his own funds’’' to save the airline, ruling out any bail-out. “Mr Mallya is a good businessman. He has to marshall his own funds. We cannot tell banks to lend the airline further,’’ he said.