Airlines Deals

The Civil Aviation Ministry today ruled out any immediate possibility of floating the IPO for Air India, saying its first priority was to successfully merge the foreign carrier with Indian Airlines.

‘’The IPO can come later. This is not the best time to enter the market,'’ Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told newspersons after inauguration of the country’s first multi-modal transport system at Netaji Subhash international airport here.

Patel said his ministry’s first priority was the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. ‘’This is because we need bigger and stronger carriers. Over the last two years, there has been 50 per cent increase in traffic than that over the past 50 years.'’

Stating that the merger would enable the two strong carriers to leverage their strengths, he said the synergie would provide a strong entity for Air India. ‘’We need a strong entity before we can go to the market.'’

In reply to a question, Patel said that his Ministry has adopted the public-private partnership model for modernisation of airports.

Funds for the modernisation would be raised by Airports Authority of India through debt markets and bonds. ‘’There is no need to go elsewhere right now. Our internal accruals are good.'’