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Aviation sector to hit air pocket as links snapped with Pak
Our Corporate Bureau
New Delhi, Jan 1: India’s aviation sector would lose
a total of about Rs 50 crore per annum due to the snapping
of air links with Pakistan, though the neighbouring country
would stand to lose about five times more.
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IA mulls
online booking
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Indian Airlines is also planning to launch
a similar on-line booking service for travel within India
soon. The IA on-line booking facility will not include
the transaction for purchase of the ticket.
“We do not have a system in place which can take care
of the entire process — right from booking of the ticket
till facility to make payments on-line”, company sources
said. |
While Air-India would alone suffer a loss
of Rs 40 crore annually with Pakistan closing down its airspace,
Indian Airlines would lose about Rs 3 crore (Rs 7 lakh a week)
and Airports Authority of India (AAI) Rs 5 crore per annum,
civil aviation minister Shahanawaz Hussain told reporters
here on Tuesday after launching A-I’s e-marketing facility
through the airline website. “Talks are on with Iran and China
to allow their national carriers to fly to India”, Mr Hussain
said.
He said that efforts were on to negotiate with other countries
like Iran to allow the use of their airspace to Indian aircraft.
An Iranian delegation is likely to arrive here in the next
few days to hold talks on aviation matters. India is also
contemplating to allow Iran Air to operate a flight to Delhi
via Kabul, to provide the first air connection with Afghanistan
after the new government took over, he said.
Talking about the losses due to closure of airspace, he said
“this is a small amount to pay for maintaining our national
honour and sovereignty, besides our commitment to fight global
terrorism”, he said.
Pakistan, he said, would lose about five times more than India
as its aircraft would now have to take long detours through
the Sri Lankan or Chinese airspace. This would entail a loss
of Rs 240 crore to Pakistan International Airlines.
A-I will lose around Rs 10 crore this year due to the snapping
of air links between the two countries.
Meanwhile, A-I launched its on-line booking facility ‘Yatrik’,
which can be accessed by logging on to www.airindia.com. Passengers
who book tickets on-line have to pay through their credit
cards, and can avail the benefit of special web fares — unrestricted
fares and restricted fares (which are available in the market).
Their credit cards will be processed through Icici’s payment
gateway service.
A-I believes that its e-marketing initiative will meet with
a good response, with two million business travellers spending
$3 billion online in 1999, and the figure set to grow to $20
billion by 2004 as per a survey by Forrester Research. This
facility will be available for those who purchase their tickets
in India, but will stretch to other countries later.
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