Measures soon to maximise utilisation of AI aircraft: Govt

The Government today said it would soon come out with measures to maximise the utilisation of aircraft of loss-making Air India.

The Government on Saturday said it would soon come out with measures to maximise the utilisation of aircraft of loss-making Air India.

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"Within a short period, the Government will come out with a package for the purpose of using those aircraft and maximum utilisation of those aircraft which are flying for lesser hours," minister of state in PMO V Narayanasamy informed the Rajya Sabha.

Answering supplementaries during the Question Hour, he said some of the routes in which Air India operates were shorter and hence the number of flying hours were less.

The average daily flying hours of A-310 and A-320 are 6.4 hours and 10.8 hours, respectively, compared to the average flying hours of private carriers like Jet Airways at 12.20 hours, Kingfisher at 10.45 hours, Spice Jet 12 hours, Go Air 13 hours and Indigo 11.40 hours.

For better utilisation of the aircrafts, both long and short routes, the Government has constituted a GoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Narayanasamy also said that 17 aircraft have been grounded because of their age and condition.

"They could not be operated because they are not safe for flying. Therefore, they have been grounded," he said, adding that the total number of operational fleet of Air India on domestic and international routes is 125.