Amid strong criticism from the BJP and the Left, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has clarified that he is not going back on his statement about privatising Air India.

“This Government has only about six months left. There is no plan (for privatising Air India) and the issue is not under active consideration at all,” he told reporters here.

He, however, maintained it was his personal belief that in future, “the Government of the day will have to look at privatisation and build a political consensus on the issue before taking a position. I never said I am going to do it.”

The Minister also mentioned that after the Rs 32,000-crore package, the Government will not give any more money to the state-owned airline.

Air India, he said, had considerably improved its financial and operational position in the recent past, including its passenger load factor and on-time performance. It was also launching new international flights to Australia and planning to operate to Moscow and Rome.

“In the previous financial year, its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) stood at a loss of Rs 2,300 crore. This year, it aims to earn a positive EBITDA of Rs 1,000 crore. However, it would report a reduced loss of about Rs 4,000 crore,” he said.

The national carrier was also meeting the operational costs on almost 70 per cent of its domestic routes, up from 30 per cent earlier, besides on all foreign routes flown by its newly acquired Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the Minister said.

Related Topics