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The taxpayer is going to cough up Rs 2,800 crore in Budget 2011-12 for Air India. Rs 800 crore of this will be for operating VVIP charters. The Finance Ministry is looking at the request, sources told Business Line .
At the moment, the billing for VVIP flights is done only for the hours that the aircraft is flown, along with some additional charges such as the parking and landing charges at the international airport.
When a VVIP such as the Prime Minister or the President travels abroad, Air India keeps two aircraft ready in either Delhi or Mumbai. The aircraft are reconfigured, with a conference and living room for the VVIP. And all seats are for free.
While a Boeing 747 on a revenue flight can carry upwards of 400 passengers, the VVIP aircraft is reconfigured to seat no more than 100 people.
Most of the time the aircraft is a Boeing 747 aircraft although VVIPs have also travelled on smaller aircraft such as the Airbus A-320.This follows an agreement that the Ministry of External Affairs concluded with Air India, the state-owned airline.
The hourly cost of flying an Airbus A-320 aircraft would be in the region of about Rs 2.5-3 lakh while it will be more for a larger Boeing 747 aircraft, industry analysts said.
In 2010, Dr Manmohan Singh went on seven international trips.
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