Mumbai,Aug
5:
National flag carrier Air India, which was
forced to scale down its international operations massively following the
recent two-month strike by a section of pilots, will resume most of its
international operations by the end of the month.
“We will be ready to restart our full international
operations by the end ofAugust. We will restore New York, Chicago and Paris
flights by then...also resume flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai,” an airline
official said.
The airline will also add more services to the
busy Southeast Asian regions by mid-August.
Around 400 pilots, members of the now
de-recognisedIndian Pilots Guild, had gone on a 58-day strike from May 7 to
protest the decision to allow the erstwhileIndian Airlines pilots to train on
the Boeing Dreamliners.
The strike forced AI to cancel several
profit-making as well as loss-making sectors, which caused a loss of around Rs
600 crore in unrealised sales to the already cash-strapped airline, which is
sitting on a debt of Rs 67,000 crore.
On taking back the 101 sacked IPG pilots, the
official said management had informed Aviation Minister that they will be taken
back only on case-to-case basis. Despite a court direction last month, the
management is yet to start processing the applications of sacked pilots.
350 IPG pilots, who were not terminated during
the strike, have started flying.
Whether Air India can win back passengers is to
be seen, as private operators such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet and IndiGo will
soon start operating in the Gulf and Southeast Asia, two key markets for the
flag carrier, following the Aviation Ministry decision to end Air India’s first
right of refusal on international routes.
IndiGo has received approval to operate over 60
new international flights every week, of which nearly 30 are for Dubai and
seven for Jeddah, while SpiceJet can now operate nearly 50 new overseas flights
a week, including seven each to Dubai and Riyadh.
Market leader Jet Airways can now add nearly 60
more flights every week, including 14 to Kuwait.
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