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According to Air India (AI) officials, the estimate includes monthly interest cost of about Rs 7.5 crore. The airline has taken aircraft acquisition loans and is paying an annual interest of four percent. Apart from that, the grounding has resulted in loss of revenue, differential cost of fuel (due to use of Boeing 777s) and maintenance-related expenses. The airline is expected to make a case for compensation and is in the process of finalising the loss amount. Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co Ltd (ANA), which operates 17 of the 50 Dreamliners in service at present, has said the grounding would result in a fall of $15.4 million (Rs 82 crore) in revenue. A total of 459 domestic and international flights were cancelled in January due to the grounding, the airline said.
Air India flew its 787s on three domestic routes and three international routes. It is now using narrow-body airbus A320s on the domestic sector and has deployed Boeing 777s on the Frankfurt and Paris routes. Due to non-availability of trained Boeing 777 pilots, the airline was forced to cancel or combine flights to Europe and Tokyo. The fuel burn on Boeing 777 is higher than Dreamliner, which is billed as 15 percent more fuel efficient.
AI was due to receive two more 787s by March and the deliveries, too, have been deferred. It has 27 Boeing 787s on order. Boeing has asked FAA to allow test flights of the 787 Dreamliner, while investigators work to uncover the source of the aircraft's battery problems. "Boeing has submitted an application to conduct 787 test flights and it is currently under evaluation by FAA," Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said today.
Air India flew some of its Boeing 787 aircraft even after the US regulator grounded the global fleet last month due to undiagnosed battery problems.
Air India Dreamliners were flown to Mumbai for maintenance reasons, Arun Mishra, director general of civil aviation, said on Monday.
"When the Dreamliners were grounded, they had come to Delhi from Frankfurt and Paris. Air India asked us for permission to take them to Mumbai because they have their maintenance facility there and also they were paying very high parking charges in Delhi," Mishra told Reuters news agency. "We gave them permission with strict orders that no passenger will be allowed."
