A-I chief for IA merger

V Thulasidas, chairman and managing director of Air India (A-I), has made a strong pitch for the merger of Indian Airlines (IA) with A-I. "We need to have an airline with both domestic and international operations," he said. Internationally all major airlines have a strong domestic operation which is lacking in case of A-I. "In my personal opinion, either A-I and I-A should be merged or Indian Airlines could be made a subsidiary of Air India," he said.

The merger will facilitate a strong hub and spoke operation for A-I. The country should have a carrier that reflect the size of the nation, Thulasidas added.

His view was echoed by Anil Goyal, the newly appointed managing director of Alliance Air (a Indian Airlines subsidiary) and the commercial director of IA, who said a strong national carrier, be it state or private owned was of India's interest.

Both Thulasidas and Goyal also acknowledged the need for strengthening A-I and IA by inducting new aircraft. However, delay in decision making has not let two companies augment fleet.

Lately, A-I has been allowed to take lease of 35 aircraft for which the first tender was issued couple of days ago. Thulasidas said the exercise would be completed by 2006. The Rs 10,000 crore fleet acquisition plan, is, however, now put under review with report expected end of this year.

A-I is looking at medium capacity long haul, ultra long range and small capacity aircraft. The ultra long range will be used for services like non-stop flight to the US while small capacity to be used for regional routes.