Buoyant over the prospects of getting a financial package of around Rs 4,300 crore from the new Government, Air India, in return, aims to save Rs 1,000 crore a year besides enhancing its market share substantially in the coming years, a top source said.
“If the Government gives us a financial package as we are confident it will, it is natural that it will also have some expectations from us. We aim to save Rs 1,000 crore a year, besides enhancing our market share and load-factor considerably,” the source closely connected to the development said in Mumbai.
The airline also plans to improve its offerings in a bid to enhance its customer-base and regain its brand image in the face of a highly-competitive environment, the source said.
“Before taking a final call on the issue (financial package), the Government wants to ensure that the package is utilised in a proper way and for this reason, it asked us to provide a blueprint on all these issues,” the source said.
An Air India proposal seeking Rs 1300 crore additional equity and soft-loans worth Rs 3,000 crore is pending with the Government since last year and the national air-carrier now hopes that the new Government will fast-forward this proposal.
The state-run airline plans to utilise the financial package to augment its fleet and also complete the integration of Air India and Indian (erstwhile Indian Airlines) smoothly, the source said.