India's Kingfisher Airlines said it was forced to cancel some flights in recent days because tax authorities had frozen its bank accounts, hurting its ability to make operational payments.

We are in dialogue with the tax authorities to agree a payment plan and get the bank accounts unfrozen at the earliest, Kingfisher said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, India's aviation regulator summoned top executives of Kingfisher to explain the large number of flight cancellations since Saturday, even as the aviation minister ruled out providing any aid to the loss-making carrier.

(Reporting by Anurag Kotoky; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)

India