Indian Airlines has projected a 12.4 per cent increase in its turnover. The airline expects its earnings in the current fiscal to touch Rs 2,800 crore against the 1995-96 level of Rs 2,490 crore.
The national carrier sees foreign exchange earnings at Rs 950 crore. Sources said the airline is targeting maximum fleet utilisation and capacity expansion during the coming fiscal. The airlines total capacity is slated to increase by 2,500 seats a day over the current capacity of 36,700 seats a day.
The aircraft utilisation for A300s, which is currently 2,628 hours a year, is expected to go up to 2,701 hours. Similarly, the utilisation for A320s is expected to increase to 2,811 hours a year.
The issue of aircraft utilisation had been a sore point since the `open skies policy was introduced in 1995-96, causing several Indian Airlines pilots to join private airline operators.
The utilisation of A320s had subsequently dropped to a low of 2,145 hours per year, while that of Boeing 737s plummeted to 1,589 hours. The 737s are now being phased out of the Indian Airlines fleet and transferred to its subsidiary, Alliance Air.
The airline plans to introduce several new flights, including a direct A320 service to Singapore from Calcutta and Bangalore thrice a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The service will commence from April 1.
Singapore will be the sixth international destination to be connected to Calcutta. The other five destinations are Bangkok, Chittagong, Dhaka, Kathmandu and Yangon. Indian Airlines also plans to introduce early departures and arrivals on the Calcutta-Yangon route.The fares on the proposed Singapore-Calcutta and Singapore-Bangalore flights will be at par with those of Singapore Airlines. However, Indian Airlines regional director (east), P C Purakayastha, acknowledged that the national carrier will have to improve its service in order to compete with the international airline.
Purakayastha said the Singapore-Calcutta flight would increase the earnings of the eastern region. The airline expects a turnover of Rs 413 crore from the eastern region for the current fiscal, a slight increase over the Rs 403 crore recorded in 1995-96.