The international operations of Air India are proving to be a losing proposition.
In a written reply to Parliament, Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh said between April and June, the total revenue that the airline generated from its international operations stood at Rs 1,711.22 crore, while the total cost of operations was Rs 2,626 crore.
The total revenues from all its European operations stood at Rs 213.51 crore, while cost of operations was Rs 404.70 crore. From its North American operations, the airline raised revenue of Rs 447.25 crore, while the total costs stood at Rs 702.88 crore.
In the past, too, the airline’s international operations did not do well, the Minister’s reply shows. During fiscal 2011-12, its total revenue stood at Rs 7,763 crore against a total operation cost of Rs 13,793 crore. Similarly, during 2010-11, its total revenue from international operations stood at Rs 7,035.18 crore against Rs 12,659 crore on total cost of operating these services.
The Minister said the airline had taken several measures to improve its performance, including ensuring that all long-haul routes to North America, the UK, Europe and Far East are upgraded and are now operated with the new Boeing 777-200 Long Range and 300 Extended Range aircraft. Besides, the airline is also progressively increasing the utilisation of all aircraft.
In response to another question, the Minister said that the provisional loss incurred by Air India during 2011-12 was about Rs 7,853.94 crore. The cumulative loss suffered by it since April 1, 2007 till March 31, 2012 was about Rs 28,000 crore, he added.