The Hindu Business Line : No need to revisit fleet acquisition proposal: IA board

The airline board on Wednesday recommended to the Ministry of Civil Aviation that there was no need to "revisit" the airlines fleet acquisition plan. The board also called on the Government to take "expeditious" steps to secure the approval of the Public Investment Board (PIB).

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, had earlier indicated that the Ministry would be writing to the Ministry of Finance requesting that the PIB meeting for the fleet acquisition plan be held at the earliest.

The airline board had cleared a proposal for inducting Airbus A-319, 320 and 321 in March 2002. The PIB meet to consider the airlines acquisition plan was scheduled to be held in January this year, but was cancelled at the last minute. The board also approved the implementation of cargo automation in the airlines, a move that would introduce customer-friendly procedures. The airline, at present, carries about 350 tonnes of cargo every day and cargo carriage accounts for 10 to 11 per cent of the total revenues earned by it.

Meanwhile, the airline has short-listed the Airbus A-330-200 Extended Range and the Boeing 767-300 Extended Range, as the two aircraft are best suited to meet the wide-body requirements of IA.