NACIL likely to offload 15%

National Aviation Company of India (NACIL), the entity that was formed after the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, is likely to offload 15% of its equity through an initial public offer (IPO).

V Thulasidas, chairman, NACIL said although the decision of diluting equity lay with the government, his personal view was that the company was likely to offload 15% stake.

The IPO would be floated once the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines was complete and operations of both airlines were totally integrated.

Before the IPO, the company would offer employee stock options (ESOPs) to its staff, Thulasidas told reporters here at the launch of direct flight of Air India Express from Kolkata to Singapore last night.

Post merger, NACIL would have 34,000 employees on board, he said, adding the ESOP scheme would be announced shortly.

Asked whether the IPO proceeds would be partly used to finance aircraft purchases, Thulasidas said the idea was to make NACIL a more business-like entity.

The company had already placed orders for 111 aircraft, of which 16 had been delivered and the rest would be delivered over the next three to three-and-half years. NACIL would have to shell out Rs 45,000 crore, for which it would have to borrow.

Of the 111 aircraft for which orders had been placed, 43 are Airbuses and the rest Boeings.

While 'Indian' would be phased out over time, the carrier would be called Air India for both domestic and overseas destinations. Also, Alliance Air would become a part of Air India.