IA replaces plane for BJP bandwagon

By Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI, AUG. 25. Indian Airlines today pulled out its normal Alliance Air aircraft - an ageing Boeing 737-200 - on the Delhi- Raipur-Nagpur sector and replaced it with an Airbus A-320 to fly the VVIP BJP passengers including 17 Union Ministers to Nagpur for the three-day party executive and council meetings there from tomorrow.

The 145-seater Airbus was said to be on stand-by, while the 120- seater Boeing 737 was re-routed. Already, two Alliance Air Boeings have been grounded after developing snags, while one aircraft was lost in the Patna air crash last month.

This leaves Alliance with nine aircraft. As a consequence, the airline has suspended its Agra-Khajuraho- Varanasi flight till the onset of its winter schedule.

Official sources denied the Alliance Air Boeing was pulled out because of safety considerations and said it was a commercial decision as the BJP required the extra capacity on the scheduled flight. The party had blocked about 60 seats.

According to an Indian Airlines spokesman, the flight today to Nagpur was full. The return flight, however, had only 100 or so confirmed seats.

The routine round trip Alliance Air flight on Boeing 737 aircraft from New Delhi to Raipur-Nagpur is one of the worst on the network in terms of being on time. Since the flight is routinely delayed, the management decided to re-schedule it at an unearthly hour of 10 p.m. departure from Nagpur, reaching Delhi at around midnight. Several mediapersons then opted to travel by train to Nagpur.

Successive Chairmen-cum Managing Directors have thrown up their hands and expressed inability to improve matters in the absence of an adequate fleet.

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Section  : National
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