Ia Board Seeks Traffic Projections

The Indian Airlines (IA) board has asked the airline management to provide a detailed report on future traffic projections, aircraft replacements and additional aircraft requirements to support its proposal of fresh aircraft acquisition at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore.

The finance ministry has recently provided an in-principle expenditure approval of Rs 325 crore to Indian Airlines to purchase new aircraft. The ministry had asked the national carrier for a detailed aircraft acquisition proposal.

The balance payments for the aircraft (above Rs 325 crore) are to be financed by the aircraft manufactures after the acquisition is cleared by the board and the government, Indian Airlines chairman cum managing director Sunil Arora told reporters today.

The board today also cleared the annual accounts for the fiscal 2000-2001. After posting profits for three years consecutively, the carrier has registered losses to the tune of Rs 159.17 crore last year.

The carrier has attributed the losses to the additional expenses of over Rs 300 crore incurred under various heads including Rs 292 crore on account of higher aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices, inflating fuel costs by 48 per cent, Rs 8 crore towards import of two leased aircraft, Rs 10 crore on mandatory deployment of sky marshals, payments of Rs 10 crore to Air-India for ground handling at the Cochin airport post privatisation and Rs 3 crore towards exchange rate fluctuations.

Revenue of the airline has however, increased by seven per cent from Rs 3,566 crore to Rs 3,854 crore.

The airline board also approved the management proposal for rationalisation of the employees' contributory pension scheme. It, however, emphasized that the scheme must remain a fully self-sustained proposition from the contribution of the employees without any obligation on part of the organisation.

The reports of the in-house Indian Airlines aircraft evaluation committee were, however, not discussed at the board meet. The report was submitted a few months ago. Aircraft manufacturers, Airbus Industrie and Boeing, are waiting for the reports and the clearance for the acquisition eagerly.

The board placed on record its appreciation of the management team that renegotiated the lease rentals down by Rs 75 crore over the lease period of six Airbus 320 aircraft.