MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION(SHRI PRAFUL PATEL)
(a),(b),(c), (d), (e) and (f): A Statement is laid on the table of the House.
STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) OF
LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 165 FOR ANSWER ON 05.08.2010
TABLED BY S/SHRI EKNATH M. GAIKWAD AND DILIPKUMAR MANSUKHLAL
GANDHI, MPs REGARDING OVERSEAS OFFICES OF AIR INDIA.
(a) and (b): Yes, Madam. Air India has offices in 13 cities
where it does not have its own flights. These are Los
Angeles, Amsterdam, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen (closed
effective June 21, 2010), Zurich, Brussels, Moscow, Cairo,
Tehran, Nairobi (became offline in January 2010), Sydney and Chittagong.
The expenditure incurred vis-Ã -vis the revenue generated by
NACIL in maintaining the above offices during the last three
financial years is as under:-
(Rupees in Crores)
Financial year Revenue Expenditure
2008-2009 198.47 16.83
2007-2008 397.69 61.60
2006-2007 455.74 75.91
(c): These offices were opened for the purpose of generating
business and revenue well before Code shares were even
conceived.The primary purpose of setting up of these
offices was to feed the Air India’s on line stations and to
extend the market potential to increase revenue.
(d) and (e): Airlines all over the world enter into such
arrangements for the purpose of increasing their network,
reach and revenue without actually deploying their own
resources for operating to these markets.
It is important for airlines to maintain offices in cities
to which they have Code share arrangements as the flights
are operated under the code of the marketing carriers also.
The sales, ticketing and servicing of the passengers are
carried out by the marketing carriers.
An airlines’ decision to open its own offices in countries
where it does not have its own operations is primarily
driven by the extent of contribution the country is expected
to add to the airline’s revenue. These are purely commercial
decisions which will be reviewed from time to time.
