IA fleet proposal to be considered at pre-PIB

With Indian Airlines being taken off the disinvestment list, the fleet acquisition plan of the domestic airline is to be taken up at a meeting with the pre-Public Investment Board scheduled for April 25.

‘‘We have been called for a pre-PIB meeting to decide on the proposal for acquisition of a mixed fleet of 43 Airbus aircraft cleared by our board in March last year’’, IA CMD Sunil Arora said here on Monday. ‘‘I cannot say when the final clearance will be completed but the process (acquisition) has begun’’, he said at the launch of the co-branded debit card with ABN Amro and Mastercard. On the impact of flights to Singapore and Bangkok due to SARs, Arora said there has been no flight cancellation by the airline and passenger ‘‘loads have been reasonably good’’.

All necessary precautions have been taken as advised by the union health ministry, he added. Referring to the performance of IA, Arora said the airline has been facing the brunt of fuel hike, insurance costs and lower traffic during the past two years.