New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is likely to explore profitable routes for loss-laden Air India.
To cut expenditure and improve cash flow, the state-run carrier also plans to close operations in several loss-making routes, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said today.
At present, the airline’s liabilities stand at Rs 44,000 crore.
According to Ravi, the pilot strike in May has cost the airline Rs 200 crore, which needs to be recovered by increasing Air India’s cash flow.
“There are many routes where increasing the frequency of flights will make a lot of difference financially to the airline. There are some routes where the airline consistently makes losses and most of these routes will be soon done away with,” Ravi said.
According to senior officials in the civil aviation ministry, a list of non-profitable routes is being prepared and a decision will be taken soon.
“We might either reduce the number of flights or completely do away with such routes. Right now all our focus is on reducing losses,” said an official.
In May, a nine-day strike by about 750 pilots over salary and promotion issues forced the carrier to cancel more than 200 flights daily out of a total of 500 and caused a major revenue loss.
27/08/11 The Telegraph
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