AI, IA merger gets ministry nod

New Delhi: The ministry of corporate affairs is learnt to have approved the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines on Monday. The formal order is expected in a day or two. They two airlines will now be combined to fly as the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) with the brand name Air India for both international and domestic flights.
"Now both AI and IA will file for dissolution with the registrar of companies and simultaneous registration as NACIL. The new company will retain AI as the brand," said a senior official. Several unions had filed objections against the merger with the ministry of corporate affairs as creditors, that's employees with dues. But those objections have been overruled, said highly placed sources.
The merger was aviation minister Praful Patel's brainchild to create a global airline with the "precision and reliability of Lufthansa and passenger service standards of Singapore Airlines".
While it will have to pass through a critically turbulent phase of amalgamation with serious differences in AI and IA employees, the amalgamation will straight away make NACIL one of the top 10 airlines of Asia in terms of size.
21/08/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: Air India Aug 2007, Indian Aug 2007