Air India loss Rs 800 crore in books in sale of five Boeing 777 to Etihad Airways. NEW DELHI: Air India made a loss of Rs 800 crore in the books in the sale of five Boeing 777 aircraft to Etihad Airways as these aircraft had depreciated in the books over 20 years, Lok Sabha was informed today. However, the national carrier generated a surplus of over $ 25 million after prepayment of aircraft loan and saved a further $ five million per month towards loan and interest repayment, Minister of State for Civil Aviation G M Siddeshwara said in reply to a question. The five planes were sold to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad at a price of $ 336.5 million, he said. Referring to the losses, he said based on the book value of these planes, book loss on sale of these five aircraft would be approximately Rs 800 crores as the aircraft had depreciated in the books over a period of 20 years while the loans were amortized over a period of 12 years. However, the national carrier generated a surplus of $ 25.735 million after prepayment of the Aircraft loan when the national carrier sold these five B777-200LR aircraft, he said. Further, a saving of $ five million per month was generated towards loan and interest repayment, resulting in improved cash flow, Siddeshwara said. He also said that the planes were found uneconomical primarily due to high fuel cost and low yields due to competition. The sale followed the due process and with the approval of the competent authority, as the operations of these planes had led to huge losses over the years, further aggravating the acute financial position of Air India, he said. Replying to another question, Siddeshwara said a total of 227 pilots and co-pilots have been selected for training to fly wide-body, long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Among those being trained are 109 pilots and co-pilots, who originally flew narrow-body planes, and 118 who already operate wide-body aircraft.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 04:02:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015