Covid-19: India told airlines to stop selling tickets, but they wouldn't

Four of the country's top six airlines, which together control 80 per cent of the local market, are selling domestic flight tickets for as soon as the third week of May.

India ordered airlines this week to stop selling tickets. Hardly any listened.
Four of the country’s top six airlines, which together control 80 per cent of the local market, are selling domestic flight tickets for as soon as the third week of May, searches on their websites showed. That’s despite the government saying no decision has been made on allowing flights after the end of the nationwide lockdown on May 3, which means airlines should refrain from selling tickets until authorities give them the go ahead.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reiterated that no commercial flights will be allowed to operate until the spread of the coronavirus has been controlled and that the lifting of restrictions will only be considered later.

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Market leader IndiGo is selling tickets from June 1, as is Vistara, the local affiliate of Singapore Airlines, searches showed. SpiceJet, the nation’s second-biggest airline, and Go Airlines India, which has furloughed 90 per cent of its staff, are selling tickets from May 16. Tickets weren’t available on the websites of state-run Air India and AirAsia India, the local partner of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd.

“We are working on that. Hopefully will find ways to resolve soon,” Arun Kumar, the head of Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said in a text message when asked about the sales.

Vistara declined to comment. Representatives at IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.

InterGlobe’s shares slid 5 per cent on Wednesday and SpiceJet fell 3.5 per cent. The benchmark Sensex index advanced 2.4 per cent. InterGlobe is down 28 per cent this year and SpiceJet has slumped over 60 per cent.

With 6 airports already in folio, Adani turns to Air India

The Tata group, the Hinduja group, Indigo and a New York-based fund, Interups, are also expected to submit their EoIs. The deadline of submitting the EoI is March 17.

The Adani group, which has already won the bid to manage 6 airports, is now all set to join the race of acquiring the state-run airline - Air India. And for this, the conglomerate is planning to submit an expression of interest (EoI) by next month, disclosed a source close to the development.

However, the final decision depends on the outcome of the due diligence post submission of the EoI. Since, after the EoI process only prospective bidders will get access to airline data.

The Adani group is not the only one interested in this complex deal. The Tata group, the Hinduja group, Indigo and a New York-based fund, Interups, are also expected to submit their EoIs. The deadline of submitting the EoI is 17th March.

This is the second attempt made by the Centre to sell the airline after it failed to receive interest in the first round last year.

As a matter of fact, sale of Air India to a private player is important for the central government as it has had to pump in Rs 30,000 crore of tax payer’s money into the airline since 2012. The airline, however, has not made money since the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines in 2007.

Apart from Air India, the government has also offered to sell Air India Express and its 50 per cent stake in Air India SATS Airport Services.

Therefore, they have come up with changes like relaxation of various norms, including clearing of the balance sheet, transfering of remaining portion to the special purpose vehicles, introduction of minimum shareholding of an investor and much more to ensure success this time.

Despite this, things are not easy for the Adani group as, according to the bid criteria an airline or a group owning an airline cannot own more than 27 per cent in the six airports that are already with the Adani group.

A similar clause restricting airlines or group owning airlines from owning more than 10 per cent in Delhi airport recently resulted in collapse of the Tata-GIC group’s investment in GMR.

Air India pilot bodies seek meeting with aviation minister on privatization

Earlier this month, as many as 13 Air India unions including its pilots unions, Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), had discussions with the airline top brass.

Flag carrier Air India's pilot bodies--IPG and ICPA -- on Tuesday sought appointment with civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri for a clarity on the proposed disinvestment amid the government preparing to exit from the airline business.

The government for long has been trying to sell debt- ridden airline but could not attract bidders. It has now again decided to call bids for sale next month.

The pilot bodies, in a communication to Puri, said that the airline management appraised it of the status of disinvestment during a recent meeting but it did not provide any clarity on pending issues or provide any roadmap with regards to the future of employees as a result of this disinvestment process.

Earlier this month, as many as 13 Air India unions including its pilots unions, Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), had discussions with the airline top management on the issue of privatisation.

"We, the Air India employees have a big stake in the success and prosperity of our airline. We request you to kindly grant us an urgent appointment for a meeting at your convenience so that we can have clarity on the mechanics of the disinvestment process and communicate employees issues/concerns as well as the ground reality to you directly," the pilot bodies said in a joint letter to the aviation minister.

"We would like to bring to your kind attention that in 2007 when the merger of AI and IA was being processed, we had raised various issues regarding employee status and service conditions in the merged entity," it said.

At the meeting,it was "categorically" emphasised that the interest of the employees of both erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India was of paramount importance and as such while drafting the Scheme due care has been taken to protect the same, the letter said.

Despite the merger of the two carriers about 12 years failing to achieve the projected synergy, the employees have been working tirelessly to make the merger a success and to improve the condition of the airline which has deteriorated due to "mismanagement" and "legacy issues", the letter said.

"We were made tall promises at the time of merger which have all fallen flat and have grave apprehensions regarding the future of our airline as well as our own livelihood post disinvestment," it added.

Business Standard

4 years of Modi: More Indians in airplanes now than in AC trains, says govt

With India emerging as the third largest aviation market, air passenger traffic growth has been in the range of 18-20 per cent over the past three years.

The number of flyers in India is more than those travelling in AC coaches of trains, documents released to mark the fourth anniversary of the Narendra Modi government  show.
With India emerging as the third largest aviation market, air passenger traffic growth has been in the range of 18-20 per cent over the past three years.


"For the first time, more people travelled in airplanes than in AC trains," according to the document, titled 'saaf niyat, sahi vikas' (clean intent, right development).


Prime Minister Narendra Modi , while presenting the government's report card at a rally in Cuttack last Saturday, had drawn the people's attention to the rapid growth of the civil aviation sector in the country.


The Aviation Ministry is targeting a five-fold increase in passenger trips to one billion per annum in 15-20 years. The civil aviation sector will also see the addition of 1,000 aircraft in the Indian skies in the coming decade from about 550 aircraft today.


The document also said that domestic air passenger crossed 100 million in 2017. It said the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 has been unveiled to transform the sector.


Under the present dispensation, the Civil Aviation Ministry had launched the Regional Connectivity Scheme or UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) to provide air connectivity to smaller towns and hilly terrains at affordable prices.



The ministry has claimed the scheme as a major success and pushing the number of operational airports in the country to about 100.