Bird hits cause Rs 7 cr loss for airlines

Cash-strapped airlines have been pounded on another front suffering a loss of at least Rs 7 crore this year on account of bird hits.

Till October, 241 bird-hit cases were reported.

Kingfisher airlines suffered the most due to 60 such incidents, followed by Jet Airways (49), SpiceJet (30), Indigo (27), Air India (24) GoAir (7) and Paramount (1).

International airlines had also reported 34 such incidents, according to figures released by the Civil Aviation Ministry today.

Jet Airways suffered a loss of Rs 8.91 lakhs, Indigo (Rs 87 lakh), Spice Jet (Rs 5.57 crore) and GoAir (Rs 45.6 lakh). The figures of losses incurred by Air India and Kingfisher were not available.

The National Bird Control Committee (NBCC) set up by Ministry of Civil Aviation on the recommendation of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) met under the chairmanship of Civil Aviation secretary M M Nambiar and suggested several measures to reduce the number of such cases.

Last year, there were about 304 bird-hit cases, while in 2007 and 2006 it was 217 and 167 respectively.

Ahmedabad airport reported a increasing number of bird hits.