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A-I registers Rs 300 mn profit in 2001-02

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

The Union Minister for Civil Aviation Syed Shahnawaz Hussain on Monday announced that despite the crisis faced by the international civil aviation sector after September 11, Air-India has made a profit of Rs 300 million in the year 2001-2002.

Speaking at a function organised to celebrate the unique feat of Maharaja, the minister announced that Air-India would soon start operating on new international routes and compete with the best airlines of the world.

"I am happy to tell you that after seven years, for the first time, Air-India has made a record profit. The international civil, aviation sector was hit badly after the terrorist attack on the United States of America. While some of the best airlines came to a grounding halt and other had to cut down their operations, Air-India continued to fly.

"I thank the non-resident Indians and the Indian citizens who preferred to fly by Air-India. This helped us to turn around and make profit," he said.

Like Indian Airlines, Air-India too would acquire new long haul aircraft and operate on new international routes.

" We are planning to have a direct flight between Delhi and United States. Flights to Delhi-Frankfurt are also on cards. We would fly to some new destinations in Africa as well as to those destinations where Air-India is not operating at the moment," he added.

Last week he had announced a plan to buy 43 new aircraft for Indian Airlines at a whopping cost of Rs 101 billion.

"Formal approval would be given shortly," he clarified.

He claimed that the efficiency of Air-India and Indian Airlines has improved substantially.

"Against 34 per cent on-time flights during Haj last year, this time round Air-India managed to do much better and 94 per cent of the flights were on schedule.

"I told my ministry that if a plane is late by (even) half an hour the file detailing the reasons for delay should be on my table by next morning," he said.

When asked about the divestment plans, the minister said that for the time being there is no plan to divest.

"Malyasia had shown keen interest in buying Air-India but we told them that for the time being we are not divesting the airline. Let us improve our performance before going in for divestment," he said.

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