Agency report
 
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 9: Air India and Indian Airlines will merge together to have single entity operations within a year and the process is on a fast track, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, V Thulasidas, today said.

The bids for the appointment of consultants for drawing up a road map for the proposed merger had been sought and it was expected that the process would begin in six months, he said while inaugurating the renovated Air India booking office here. |BPO unplugged|

"Competition has increased in the Airlines industry and the merger of the two state-owned airlines is needed for its survival,'' Thulasidas said and added it would help in competing effectively with other global players. | Go to Sify Business Home page |

Earlier, Air India and the Indian Airlines ran only international and domestic flights respectively. Both of them now operate international and domestic flights and there was no need for two airlines to do the same thing, he said adding "there is no sense in keeping them as two companies.’’

However, there was no need for any apprehension about the subsidiaries that the airlines' now have, he said and added ''I expect that the merger would also come up with a subsidiary budget airlines like the Air India Express or the Alliance Air."

He said that at present both the Air India and Indian Airlines were on a process of increasing its fleet. Air India was going to buy 68 aircraft, the largest in its history, and Indian Airlines for 43. Air India was going to become one of the largest airlines in the country, he added.

Thulasidas said a merger of the two Airlines in such a situation would help to make the state owned airlines one of the best and the biggest among five airlines in Asia by 2011.

He said the Kerala Government had promised 15 acres of land for Air India's aircraft maintenance unit to be set up here.

The work for the base would be started as soon the land would be received, he said and added that it would be the second base in the country after Mumbai.

Thulasidas said in his meeting with Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, he had stressed the point that as Air India operated more flights from Delhi, there was a need for a maintenance unit there.

Pointing out that after the India-US sector, India-Gulf was the largest revenue generation sector, he said the Air India Express, which can be otherwise called as the Kerala express, had been doing a good job by providing budget flights to the Keralities working in the Gulf. The Air India Express had run on profit for the past one year, he added.

Air India Commercial Manager K M Kurian, Air India Thiruvananthapuram Manager, H A Munaff, were among those present.