New Delhi/Mumbai: Air India may fly all-economy international flights using the eight Boeing 777 200-LR s the airline has in its fleet if a plan to sell the aircraft fails to take off.
A senior official at Air India said, “We have decided to sell the eight Boeing 777 200-LRs we have in our fleet. If we are unable to sell or lease the aircraft, we will fly them all economy on international routes.” Sale of the aircraft is the first option for the airline, which is already in talks with Boeing to find potential buyers.
Currently, Air India offers eight first class, 35 business class and 195 economy class seats on the Boeing 777 200-LR. The airline would have to reconfigure the aircraft to drop the first and the business class seats on its flights to fly all economy on mid-haul routes.
“The occupancy in business class is around 70-80%, at par with other airlines. However, the passenger load factor in first class is continuing to pose problems. The per seat cost is now heavy making operations unviable”, the official added.
14/05/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee & Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard
