New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) Kingfisher airlines will close its domestic check-in counters 40 minutes before the departure time to curb flight delays, the airline said Tuesday.

The decision by the country’s second largest private sector airline follows a circular issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to curb flight delays and pile-ups at the airports.

‘This change has been necessitated to ensuring compliance with the directions and procedures specified in air transport circular 10 of 2009 issued by the DGCA and which is being implemented by DGCA now,’ said Prakash Mirpuri, vice president, corporate communications.

‘This effectively means that our check-in counters will close 10 minutes earlier than they used to,’ he added.