NEW DELHI: Cutting across party lines, members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Civil Aviation on Monday expressed concern over declining capacity and market shares of Indian Airlines. They were also concerned over pilot shortages and depleting fleet strength of the public sector carrier at a time when the civil aviation sector was witnessing expansion and keen competition.

In a presentation before the committee, IA's acting chief Sushma Chawla said the carrier planned to take on lease 12 wide-bodied aircraft for expanding its international network, and six ATRs for development of a feeder network on routes other than the Northeast, to be operated by its wholly owned subsidiary Alliance Air.

The Committee was informed that IA's market share had declined due to a fall in its capacity share. From a capacity share of 65.2 per cent in 1997-98 and an accompanying market share of 65.9 per cent, the airline's capacity share declined to 41.7 per cent and the market share to 38.2 per cent. Members were also told about various cost control measures taken up by IA which resulted in a saving of Rs. 148 crores in 2004.

The public sector airline also plans joining a global airline alliance in the long term. According to the airline, the benefits would include greater interline flows, access to new markets through code sharing, global image enhancement, upgradation of technology and service standards.

IA's short term requirements are being met through lease, a market that has tightened globally and it is not easy to find wide-bodied aircraft. IA at present has 17 A-320 aircraft on lease, four leased ATRs exclusively for the Northeast and a lease of 10 more A-320 aircraft is under evaluation. Five Airbus A-319 aircraft on lease are scheduled to join Alliance Air fleet from this winter and a lease of six more ATRs is under evaluation by Alliance Air.

The airline is offering ground handling services to 19 airlines, including leading international carriers like British Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, SriLankan at 14 airports in the country. IA's ground handling revenue has grown from Rs. 180 crores in 2003-04 to Rs. 221 crores in 2004-05.

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