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Air-India to use Indian Airlines' local flights

International carrier Air-India can now use domestic carrier Indian Airlines for the local legs of its international flights, according to a pact between the two state-run airlines, the civil aviation minister said on Thursday.

Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told a committee of parliamentarians that under a hub-and-spoke arrangement, Indian Airlines will provide connections to domestic destinations from Delhi and Bombay, where Air-India's international flights arrive.

"The route rationalisation has been undertaken so that both airlines provide good competition to foreign airlines instead of competing with each other," a statement quoted the minister as saying.

Air-India now flies the domestic legs of its long-haul international flights, which clash with some of the domestic carrier's scheduled flights.

Hussain said Indian Airlines' smaller planes were more suited for domestic routes and the arrangement would free up Air-India's Airbus A-310s for routes that needed bigger planes.

Indian Airlines flies mostly on domestic routes with a fleet of smaller Airbus A-320s and Boeing 737s.

Hussain said Air-India reported a profit of 467.9 million rupees ($9.7 million) in the first half of the year to March 2003 despite a downturn in the global aviation industry after the September 11 air attacks in the United States.

It made a profit of 154.4 million rupees in the past year.

Last year, the government abandoned its plan to privatise both airlines after investors started losing interest in aviation due to a global slowdown in the sector.

Both carriers' plans to expand their fleets have been affected as a result.

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