Private Operators should not be canniblising the routes of IA and AI
“The boards of Indian Airlines and Air India will meet soon to discuss the initial offers of the Airlines,” the said statement had been given by the Union Minister of Aviation, Praful Patel, on the sidelines of a seminar organized by Assocham.
He said that airlines will raise money to expand thier fleet and network and that the Airlines had embarked on massive fleet expansion plans. He said that Indian Airlines would have a $2 billion deal for purchasing 43 aircraft – the cabinet approval of the same is now awaited. He further said that Air India had to finalize wide-bodied aircraft besides the B737 it was buying for its low cost carrier: Indian Airlines’ proposal would be placed before the cabinet as soon as the Prime Minister would be back from abroad.
Patel also stated that two state-owned carriers were facing competion from startup airlines in the domestic sector and established private carriers, who had been allowed to fly abroad, stating that private airlines like Jet and Sahara should not be canniblising on the routes of Air India and Air lines. Patel said that they should create new routes. He further noted that the start-up airlines were trying to have the trained crew of their lines, which would create serious problems of deficiency in trained staff. He said that the present number of Indians who fly (6 million) would be inceased to 50 million and number of aircraft to 1750.
by Mann Mohan Khanna
March 31, 2005
Posted in: Airlines & Railways