New Air India to issue IPO by next year

New Delhi: The entity formed out of the merger of Indian and Air-India would be called Air India and it will announce an initial public offer (IPO) by 2008, the civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel said.
The mega airline will order or lease 25 new aircraft by the year-end, he said, adding that old aircraft will be phased out eventually. A new company called National Aviation Company Ltd has been registered to amalgamate A-I, Indian and their low-fare subsidiaries A-I Express and Alliance Air.
The merged entity will be partially divested to fund acquisition of new aircraft as the government-owned carrier gears up to meet growing competition from international and domestic carriers.
Indian last year ordered 43 new Airbus aircraft while A-I signed up for 68 Boeing planes. The first of Boeing B777-200LR (long range) will arrive in the Capital on 10 July. It will fly on the Mumbai-New York route non-stop.
“The new airline having about 111 aircraft with both international and domestic footprint will set fresh benchmarks for efficiency and reliability,” the minister said.
22/05/07 The Statesman

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Air India May 2007, Indian May 2007