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Five bids to lease aircraft to AI

Ashwini Phadnis

NEW DELHI, June 4

AT least five international leasing companies have put in bids with Air India (AI) to offer aircraft on lease, airline sources have said.

``We will be carrying out technical evaluation of these bids in the next few days and the parties whose bids are found suitable will be called for commercial negotiations and finally for placement of orders,'' senior AI officials told Business Line.

The airline, officials said, was keen to complete the process as early as possible so that the leased aircraft could be pressed into service during the forthcoming winter schedule.

Though officials of major aircraft manufacturers met them on the day the bids closed, AI officials refused to disclose the names of the five companies that had put in bids. April 30 was the last day for submission of the bids with AI.

Despite the Government giving permission to the airline to lease up to 10 aircraft, AI had called bids for dry leasing three to six Airbus A310 and one or two Boeing 747 aircraft for a period of three years.

The leased aircraft could see AI offer additional capacity on several routes, including India-Singapore, India-Thailand and India-Germany-US, among others.

Leasing aircraft is one of the ways being examined by AI to improve its financial health. Other steps being taken include a voluntary retirement scheme, a freeze on external recruitment in non-operational areas, redeployment of fleet on more profitable s ectors such as India-Gulf and India-Hong Kong and re-configuration of the Boeing 747-200 and Boeing 747-300 fleet to replace the first class capacity with higher earning potential economy class seats.

The airline, for the first time in the past five years, reported an operating profit of Rs. 1.86 crores and a net profit of Rs. 1.20 crores in April this year.