100% Sale Of Air India For Rs 17,000 Crore Can Be Delayed Due To Covid-19 Impact; But Govt Will Wrap Up Before March 2021

Air India would be completely disinvested, but the timeline for disinvestment of Air India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) may be pushed by two to three months.

Due to the impact of the second Covid-19 wave, the only focus right now is to stop the spread.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri declared that Air India would be completely disinvested, adding that there is only one option: disinvestment or shutting down the airline.

“We’ve decided that Air India will be 100% disinvested. The choice isn’t between disinvestment and non-disinvestment, it’s between disinvestment and closing down. Air India is a first-rate asset but has an accumulated debt of Rs 60,000 Crore. We need to draw the slate clean” Hardeep Singh Puri said.

The government hopes to complete the selling of the two companies by FY22, achieving the Rs 1.75 trillion disinvestment deadline. This would be accomplished by the government selling its stake in core and non-core public sector enterprises (PSUs).

“There may be minor disruptions in short-term goals like quarterly targets of disinvestment but there is no change in the annual disinvestment target,” a government official said.

According to sources, bidders who have been shortlisted for the sale of Air India have requested that the government postpone the deadline for submitting financial bids because they are having problems with site due diligence.

Multiple countries have banned flights to and from India as a second wave of the pandemic has hit the region, preventing the virus from spreading further. This is impacting the travel plans of merchant bankers and lawyers.

“Much of the divestment work can be done online as the virtual data room (VDR) can be accessed from anywhere. However, a lot of the process also depends on physical verification of sites and properties which is currently not possible. Many of our team members, who are involved in the process, are also sick and on leave,” said a person.

The government has begun the process of soliciting financial bids for the sale of Air India, with the transaction scheduled to close by September of this year.

The Tata Group was one of several companies that made initial offers for the loss-making national carrier in December of last year.

Eligible bidders were allowed access to the VDR of Air India and queries were answered, sources said. They added that the transaction has now moved to the financial bidding stage.

30/04/21 Arpita/Trak.in

Read More

Tata group pulls ahead of SpiceJet promoter in race for Air India

Tata Sons has quoted a price higher than SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh for Air India in a preliminary bidding round, two people told Mint. 

Tata Sons is in the driver’s seat in the proposed divestment process as the second wave of Covid-19 has dampened Air India’s valuation further, the sources said. 

As per reports, Tata group and SpiceJet’s Singh, in his individual capacity, have been the only shortlisted candidates to bid for the carrier. 

Air India has around $10 billion worth of debt, of which Tata Sons may ask the government to take care of more than $5 billion. 

30/04/21 Ankit Agarwal/VCCircle

Read More

UPS Lifts 2,184 Oxygen Concentrators to India; Air India to Distribute Across Indian Cities

Houston:  The first major batch of oxygen concentrators has left Atlanta by air to Delhi. Thanks to UPS Foundation's generous collaboration with Sewa International, the shipment of 2,184 Nuvo oxygen-concentrators, manufactured by Birmingham, Alabama-based Nidek Medical Products, Inc., is being shipped free of cost to New Delhi, as India struggles with the severe second wave of COVID-19 that has led to an acute shortage of oxygen, ventilators, and hospital beds across the country.

While the shipment from Atlanta to Delhi is going via UPS, Air India will be distributing the consignment to seven metros in India, also without cost to Sewa International. From these seven metros the oxygen-concentrators will be transported by road to 21 cities. "In the midst of this health crisis in India, we are absolutely thrilled to have the support of so many organizations and people in enabling this quick shipment of oxygen-concentrators to India," said Arun Kankani, President, Sewa International, who had flown from Houston to be with the Sewa Atlanta team as they readied to send the medical equipment to India.

Romaine Seguin, President Global Freight Forwarding at UPS, said, "Our Heart goes out to the people of India during these tough times and our prayers are with them. It is our pleasure to lend a helping hand in this shipment of much needed medical equipment," Kiran Manchikanti, VP, UPS Information Technology, said. "Being an Indian and being able to make a difference makes me proud to support Indian people at this moment." Philippe Gilbert, UPS President, Supply Chain Solutions, reiterated that his team is with the people of India and are willing to help alleviate the pain.

30/04/21 Sewa International/El Paso Inc.

Read More

Covid: Russia delivers 20 tonnes of medical supplies to India

New Delhi: Russia on Thursday delivered to India 20 tonnes of medical supplies mainly comprising oxygen concentrators, ventilators and medicines as part of its assistance to help the country deal with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped several states and union territories.

The medical supplies were brought to Delhi in two transport aircraft operated by Russia's EMERCOM, a state-run agency overseeing civil emergency services.

Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that first consignment of oxygen concentrators have arrived from Germany on an Air India flight.

An oxygen concentrators, is a medical device that concentrates oxygen from ambient air.

30/04/21 Free Press Journal

Read More

UPS Lifts 2,184 Oxygen Concentrators to India; Air India to Distribute Across Indian Cities

Houston: The first major batch of oxygen concentrators has left Atlanta by air to Delhi. Thanks to UPS Foundation's generous collaboration with Sewa International, the shipment of 2,184 Nuvo oxygen-concentrators, manufactured by Birmingham, Alabama-based Nidek Medical Products, Inc., is being shipped free of cost to New Delhi, as India struggles with the severe second wave of COVID-19 that has led to an acute shortage of oxygen, ventilators, and hospital beds across the country.

While the shipment from Atlanta to Delhi is going via UPS, Air India will be distributing the consignment to seven metros in India, also without cost to Sewa International. From these seven metros the oxygen-concentrators will be transported by road to 21 cities. "In the midst of this health crisis in India, we are absolutely thrilled to have the support of so many organizations and people in enabling this quick shipment of oxygen-concentrators to India," said Arun Kankani, President, Sewa International, who had flown from Houston to be with the Sewa Atlanta team as they readied to send the medical equipment to India.

Romaine Seguin, President Global Freight Forwarding at UPS, said, "Our Heart goes out to the people of India during these tough times and our prayers are with them. It is our pleasure to lend a helping hand in this shipment of much needed medical equipment," Kiran Manchikanti, VP, UPS Information Technology, said. "Being an Indian and being able to make a difference makes me proud to support Indian people at this moment." Philippe Gilbert, UPS President, Supply Chain Solutions, reiterated that his team is with the people of India and are willing to help alleviate the pain.

30/04/21 Sewa International/PR Newswire

Read More

Air India to resume flights to UK from Saturday

Air India will resume flights to the United Kingdom from Saturday (May 1) following the suspension of services on April 24 due to a daily record number of Covid-19 cases.

The Indian national carrier will resume services partially from May 1 to 15, connecting New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru to the UK’s Heathrow Airport.

Air India tweeted that it has scheduled flights to UK’s Heathrow Airport on May 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, and 14. While flights from Mumbai to London’s Heathrow have been scheduled on May 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, and 15.

Flights between Bengaluru to London are scheduled for May 5 and 12.

29/04/21 Khaleej Times

Read More

First consignment of Oxygen concentrators from Germany arrive in India: Minister Hardeep Singh Puri

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that first consignment of oxygen concentrators have arrived from Germany on an Air India flight. An oxygen concentrators, is a medical device that concentrates oxygen from ambient air. In a tweet, the minister on Thursday said: "First consignment of Oxygen concentrators from Germany arrives in Delhi on @airindiain Flight AI120. "Every stakeholder of India's civil aviation sector is making a meaningful contribution in our unrelenting fight against COVID."

Besides, Air India, SpiceXpress, the air cargo arm of SpiceJet, on Wednesday, airlifted 1,000 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong to Delhi. In the last two weeks, more than 2,000 oxygen concentrators have been airlifted by SpiceJet for SpiceHealth.

29/04/21 Hans India

Read More

Air India to resume flights to UK from May 1

National carrier Air India has informed that it will restart flights to the UK from May 1. The airline had suspended to and from flights to the UK between April 24 and 30 due to fresh restrictions imposed by the foreign country amid India battering one of the worst COVID wave crises yet.

However, on Wednesday, the air carrier informed that it will be operating flight from Mumbai to London's Heathrow airport on a slew of dates starting May 1. There will be a return flight on the same day. First to and fro flight from Delhi to Heathrow will be on May 2 and that from Bengaluru will be on May 5. 

The operator informed that bookings will be open through the Air India website, mobile app, booking offices, call centre and authorised travel agents. "Passengers who are already booked on these dates and wishing to travel, will be required to rebook and revalidate their bookings," it said in a series of tweets. 

However, passengers are requested to read the updated guidelines carefully in view of the UK government's stricter norms. "It will be the sole responsibility of the passengers to ensure his/her eligibility to enter the destination country.  Air India will accept no liability if non compliance results in denied boarding," the national carrier added. 

29/04/21 The Week

Read More

Air India privatisation: Maharaja's disinvestment may be delayed further due to pandemic

Air India’s disinvestment process may be delayed further. According to news reports. The stake sale process for the ailing Maharaja was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides COVID, the process could be delayed due to like physical inspection of assets by potential bidders, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary of the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM), the nodal agency involved in the divestment process of the national carrier, told LiveMint.

The government has extended five times the deadline to submit preliminary bids for the national carrier.

Speaking at Mint India Investment Summit 2021, Pandey said that the government was earlier targeting the completion of Air India divestment process before H1, FY 2022 (April-September 2021 period) but 'there could be a little bit of slippage in terms of time'.

Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group and US-based fund Interups Inc were among "multiple" entities that put in preliminary bids last week for buying loss-making carrier Air India. Sources told PTI earlier that after assessing the preliminary bids, eligible bidders were allowed access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) of Air India, after which investors' queries were answered. The transaction has now moved to the financial bidding stage and that the deal is likely to be completed by September this year.

29/04/21 Free Press Journal

Read More

Big rush to get to US, Air India ups nonstops to pre-Covid level

New Delhi: Air India is soon going to operate almost as many nonstops to the US as it did in pre-pandemic times, thanks to a scramble to reach there for two main reasons.

Indians/NRIs/PIOs fear the US may also close its doors for them like several others countries have done during the ongoing uncontrolled explosion of Covid cases and are rushing back.

Secondly, they fear falling sick in India at a time when the healthcare system here has crumbled and crematoriums are working overtime. Due to this demand surge, Air India is going to operate 32 weekly nonstops to the US by May 11, just one shot of its pre-pandemic frequency of 33.

Air India uses two versions of its Boeing 777 for North America — 238-seater long-range (mainly for the west coast) and 342-seater extended range (east coast). “India-US flights are going full (leading to high fares) with people scrambling to return. Most Air India and United India-US flights till about mid-May are almost sold out,” said people in the know. The flights to India, on their other hand, have much lighter loads with 150-180 passengers, they add. The rush to the US has seen fares jump with one-way economy India-New York often costing Rs 1.5 lakh.

Canada last Friday (April 23) suspended all passenger flights from India for 30 days. Following this, Air India had to cancel all its flights to Vancouver and Toronto till May 22. Given the demand for the US and the B777s spare with Canada flights cancelled, the soon-to-be-privatised Maharaja started adding US nonstops under the air bubble between the two countries. It started a new route also, Delhi-Newark.

An Air India spokesperson said: “Prior to recent discontinuation of our flights to Canada, we were operating 29 flights per week to the US. We planned to increase the frequency to 30 and 32 per week from May 16 and 18, respectively. After discontinuation of Canada flights… an increase in frequency to 30 and 32 per week has been preponed to May 9 and 11, 2021, respectively.” In pre-covid days till March 15, 2020, Air India had about 33 flights weekly to the US.

The mainstay of Air India international operations are the medium range 256-seater B787 Dreamliners used for Europe, the far east and Australia; and the B777s for North America.

29/04/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Infected passenger stopped from boarding flight

Chennai: The Air India flight to Andaman was scheduled to depart from the Chennai airport at 6 am. The officials checked the medical certificates of the passengers before issuing boarding passes. When they checked the certificate of Marsalam (40) of Andaman, they found that he had tested positive for the virus. They immediately isolated the passenger and cancelled his ticket.

Marsalam said he would travel to Andaman and get treated there, but the officials refused to allow him to travel with the other passengers. The Health Department staff rushed to the spot. They gave Marsalam a PPE kit before taking him to the Chromepet government hospital in an ambulance. Later, the departure terminal in the airport was sanitised.

Meanwhile, 42 flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to shortage of passengers to and from the Chennai airport. Some of the flights that operated had less than 10 passengers, said sources.

28/04/21 DT Next

Read More

Air India, BPCL sale may be delayed but will get completed by FY22

New Delhi: The timeline for disinvestment for government’s marquee disinvestment like Air India and BPCL may be pushed by two to three months due to the impact of the second wave of coronavirus.

However, the government is confident of wrapping the sale of the two companies by FY22 and meet the disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 trillion has been set through the sale of government stake in strategic core and non-core PSU sectors.

“There may be minor disruptions in short term targets like quarterly targets of disinvestment but there are no change in the annual disinvestment target,” a government official said.

Sources said that bidders shortlisted for the sale of Air India have asked the government to postpone the deadline of submitting financial bids as they are facing issues with due diligence of sites.

With a second wave of the pandemic gripping India, multiple countries have banned flights to and from India in order to stop the spread of the virus. This is impacting travel of merchant bankers and lawyers many of whom are not being able to travel.

“Much of the work can be done online as the virtual data room can be accessed from anywhere. However, a lot of the process also depends on physical verification of sites and properties which is currently not possible. Multiple of our team member who are involved in the process are also sick and are on leave,” said a person involved in the process.

The government has commenced the process of inviting financial bids for the sale of Air India, with the deal expected to be completed by September this year.

Tata Group was among several companies that had put in initial bids to buy the loss-making national carrier in December last year.

After assessing the preliminary bids, eligible bidders were allowed access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) of Air India, after which investors' queries were answered, sources told PTI, adding that the transaction has now moved to the financial bidding stage and that the deal is likely to be completed by September this year.

28/04/21 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

Read More

Crew member tests positive, Air India flight returns from Sydney with cargo, without passengers

New Delhi: Australian authorities refused clearance to an Air India flight to fly back home with passengers on Monday after one of the crew members who was on the flight to Sydney tested Covid positive on arrival. Since the flight had a significant cargo load, the airline decided to fly it to Delhi without passengers and the cabin crew member who tested positive is in isolation in Sydney, say people in the know. AI flies once a week to Australia and that is the only nonstop between the two countries.

“All crew members rostered to operate a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Delhi to Sydney on Saturday went through the pre-flight RT-PCR Covid testing. They all tested negative and were then cleared to operate this passenger flight. On arrival in Sydney, each of them had another RT-PCR test,” said sources.

The on-arrival test reports came a day later when the crew was at Sydney airport to operate this aircraft back to Delhi with passengers. One of the cabin crew members tested positive. “As per Australian rules, this aircraft was denied permission to fly to Delhi with passengers. While the crew member/s testing positive are quarantined there only, Australia asks airlines in such cases to operate the aircraft back to home country as a ferry flight (without passengers) and cargo is allowed to be carried on it,” said sources.

Given the amount of cargo on this flight, possibly medical items desperately needed back home right now, AI decided to operate the flight to Delhi with the same. This is the second time such a thing has happened with AI in Australia.

Sparsely-populated Australia has very strict rules for flying in people to the continent. It calculates the number of hospital beds available in a city and then distributes the same over the number of flights supposed to operate there by assuming everyone on board may need medical attention on arrival. AI is taking care of its cabin crew member quarantined in Sydney, said an official.

27/04/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Ajay Singh seeks access to virtual data room, more time for submitting financial bid for Air India

New Delhi: Ajay Singh, who is bidding for national carrier Air India in his personal capacity, has sought a relaxation of bidding rules such as a waiver of the ‘clean-team’ protocol and an extension of deadline for submission of a financial bid, the Economic Times mentioned in a report citing sources aware of the matter.

Singh, Spicejet chairman, is currently prohibited from accessing the virtual data room or VDR that has been set up for bidders to carry out due diligence on the airline because he has an executive role at SpiceJet, the business daily mentioned citing sources.

The ‘clean-team’ protocol says executives at rival airlines who wish to bid for Air India and currently hold operational responsibilities in their organisations are disallowed from accessing the VDR, which contains sensitive internal documents of Air India such as its commercial arrangements with third parties and financial and operational forecasts.

Singh has sought a relaxation on the grounds that he is bidding for Air India in his individual capacity and as the leader of a consortium he would be at a commercial disadvantage if he were not allowed to access the VDR documents.

He has also sought an extension of the deadline for submission of financial bids. He has sought 12 weeks from the time of the release of the request for proposal or RFP. 

Among reasons he has cited for seeking an extension are incomplete documentation in the VDR and the second Covid wave, which has restricted the movement of resources who were deployed for carrying out due diligence on the airline, the publication mentioned citing sources.

27/04/21 ETNowNews.com

Read More

Air India Flight Returns From Sydney With Just Cargo After Crew Member Tests Covid Positive

New Delhi: At this time of coronavirus crisis, an Air India flight returned from Sydney to Delhi on Tuesday with just cargo as Australian authorities refused to let it take passengers after one of its crew members tested positive for COVID-19. As per a report by news agency PTI, all crew members underwent RT-PCR tests in Delhi on Saturday before operating the Delhi-Sydney flight, and all of them were found negative. 

However, after they arrived in Sydney on Sunday morning, the Australian authorities also conducted RT-PCR tests on the entire crew, and its results came on Monday. As per the RT-PCR Report, one of the crew members was found positive. Therefore, the Australian authorities refused to allow Air India to take passengers on the Sydney-Delhi flight. 

The report added that the crew member who tested positive for COVID-19 has been kept in isolation in Sydney only. 

27/04/21 India.com

Read More

Air India Airlifting Oxygen Concentrators From Several Countries: Aviation Minister

New Delhi: Air India is going to airlift 10,636 oxygen concentrators from several countries in the next seven days, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

"Air India is airlifting 10,636 oxygen concentrators manufactured by Philips. 636 (concentrators) already flown in from US. Consignments flying in every day. Will be completed within this week," Mr Puri said on Twitter.

India is struggling with a second wave of the coronavirus infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.

27/04/21 PTI/NDTV

Read More

Oxygen tankers from Thailand arrive in India; Air India steps up effort

New Delhi: A consignment of containers for transportation of medical oxygen arrived in India from Thailand while some more empty tankers will be airlifted from Singapore and Dubai on Tuesday, the Union home ministry said.

The containers from Thailand were the third such consignment to be flown to the country in the Indian Air Force's (IAF) transport aircraft by the home ministry amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and a subsequent increase in demand for medical oxygen.

"Some glimpses of airlift of oxygen containers from Bangkok by IAF last night. The airlift is being coordinated by MHA. It will enhance oxygen availability amid current COVID-19 surge," a home ministry spokesperson said in a tweet, sharing pictures of the oxygen containers being loaded into an IAF aircraft.

In another tweet, the home ministry said, "IAF C17 transport aircraft gearing up to airlift more empty oxygen containers from Singapore today. These containers will further boost oxygen availability in the country in view of the current COVID-19 surge. The airlift is being coordinated by MHA."

Later, the spokesperson said the airlift operations of empty containers continues and one more IAF transport aircraft reached Dubai on Tuesday to bring another lot of oxygen containers.

"The MHA is coordinating the airlift, which will upscale oxygen availability in the country during the current COVID-19 surge," the spokesperson said.

The first consignment of empty oxygen containers was airlifted from Singapore on Saturday.

Another batch of containers was brought from Dubai on Monday.

All three aircraft carrying the containers landed in West Bengal.

From there, they were taken to oxygen generating sites to be filled up and for onward transportation to the high-demand areas, mostly through special trains.

27/04/21 PTI/New Indian Express

Read More

Air India flies oxygen concentrators from US as Biden, Harris assure help amid COVID-19 surge

318 Philips oxygen concentrators loaded by Air India at JFK Airport, United States are on their way to Delhi, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri confirmed in a tweet on Monday.

This development comes as US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have assured India and its people of providing all assistance, including urgently sending necessary medical life-saving supplies and equipment, to help the country combat the deadly coronavirus crisis.

Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need, Biden said in a tweet.

The President was spending his weekend at his home in Delaware but is believed to be following up the developments in India. The US is working closely with the Indian government to rapidly deploy additional support and supplies during an alarming COVID-19 outbreak. As we provide assistance, we pray for the people of India including its courageous healthcare workers, Harris said in a tweet.

26/04/21 PTI/CNBC TV18

Read More

Air India to fly in oxygen concentrators from the US this week

Mumbai: National carrier Air India will join the country’s battle against Covid this week by air transporting about ten thousand oxygen concentrators from the US into India, said an airline source.

The first flight, carrying 318 oxygen concentrators weighing over 5,600 kg will take off from New York and is scheduled to land in Delhi on Tuesday. The second flight too will carry 318 concentrators will depart from Newark airport and land in Delhi on April 28, said the source adding that the order was placed by the Indian government. "Apart from the New York airports, oxygen concentrators will also be flown in from San Francisco regularly after April 28 to bring in about ten thousand of them,’’ the source added.

In India, the national carrier has the largest fleet of wide-bodied aircraft capable of operating non-stop long haul flights over 15 hours to destinations like the US.

Last week private carriers began flying in oxygen concentrators. SpiceJet on Saturday said that its air cargo arm, SpiceXpress has airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong and the B737 flight landed in Delhi via Kolkata in the evening.

25/04/21 Manju V/Times of India

Read More

Dubai-bound AI flight returns to Chennai due to technical reasons

Chennai: A Dubai-bound Air India flight with over 170 passengers returned here on Thursday due to technical reasons, officials said.

The flight carrying 172 passengers and seven crew members, departed from here in the evening and was air bound for sometime, before it returned to the city.

An Air India spokesperson said the flight came back due to technical reasons.

23/04/21 Times of India

Read More