As 2008 draws closer, National Aviation Company, is all geared up to welcome the New Year with its own set of resolutions.
Will induct 20 new aircraft in 2008
NEW DELHI: As 2008 draws closer, National Aviation Company (Nacil), the entity formed after merging Air-India and Indian Airlines, is all geared up to welcome the New Year with its own set of resolutions.
The highlights of its plans for 2008 include induction of 20 new aircraft in its ageing fleet, commencement of a non-stop flight between Delhi and New York in February and Bangalore-San Fransisco thereafter. Also, the carrier’s regional operations would get a boost with the induction of two 70-seater CRJs. This will help the company’s low-cost venture Air India Express as JetLite, another low-cost carrier, will start its flights in the Gulf sectors from January.
Next year, after Nacil receives deliveries of 111 aircrafts that it has already commissioned for, the company has to then decide on how many more aircraft it will have to induct after 2012. Though company officials declined to divulge the order size, they pointed out that of the 111 new aircraft coming in as part of an old order, 80% would be used to replace old planes.
In 2008, Nacil will also have choose its new leader since the term of V Thulasidas, its current chairman and managing director, expires in March. Meanwhile, the government has already begun to look for Thulasidas’s replacement. Thulasidas may also get an extension as the current joint managing Vishwapati Trivedi is also eligible to head the national carrier.
However, 2008 may not be all smooth sail for Nacil. Not only is the merged entity deep in the red, it is also unlikely to post profits in the next fiscal. Nacil is seeking a Rs 1,000 crore bailout package from the government. Company officials aver that Nacil’s revenues will soar by over 50% to Rs 15,000 crore in 2008-09, the first full fiscal year of operation when synergies of the merger would sink in.
Nacil claimed that synergies would be fully realised by the end of next year. Nacil has also identified 13 routes where flights from the erstwhile A-I an IA overlap. These include Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur besides the Gulf sectors and steps are being taken to minimise overlaps.
b_sindhu@dnaindia.net
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