Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 01, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Dec 01, 2007 ePaper |
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Andhra Pradesh
HYDERABAD: Air India is planning to place a bigger order than the recent one for the purchase of aircraft after 2011 as part of expanding the modern fleet, even as it is aimed to “convert India into a global hub.” Talking to reporters on the sidelines of ‘INFOCOM-2007’ conference and exhibition, V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director, said the last aircraft of the latest purchase order would be received by the end of 2011. The plans for aircraft required later would be firmed up and placed now. Air India was working on a much larger plan than what had been undertaken so far. He said that four maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) joint ventures were also proposed to be established — one each with Boeing and Airbus and two others for engines and components. The integration process at the top management level was completed and it was expected to be concluded for all other areas by next year-end. Phenomenal growthEarlier, delivering the keynote address at a panel discussion on ‘Challenges in aviation industry by 2020’, he said the aviation industry in the country had recorded a phenomenal growth in the last few years. It was around 36 per cent in the current fiscal. The average growth rate over the last two and a half years was 33 per cent for domestic and 17 per cent for international travel. There were 325 aircraft which would be less than the fleet of one large airline in the U.S. Pointing out that another 400 aircraft would be arriving in the next few years, he said that while the Indian aviation industry had taken off on a very significant growth trajectory, a lot of catching up needed to be done. Observing that high cost and wafer thin margins characterised airline business, he said airlines’ debt globally had become three per cent of their equity. During the last six years, airlines the world over had suffered losses of $42 billion. However, the International Air Transport Association had forecast that the business would turn the corner and make a profit of a little over $5 billion this year. Improving efficiencyStating that the country’s airlines business had suffered significant losses, he called for driving down the operating costs by improving efficiency. Sridhar Phadke, executive director, IT, Air India, said the organisation was studying the possibility of introducing biometric solutions for security at airports and also planning to implement RFID (radio frequency identification) technology for tracking passengers.
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