In a surprise move the Indian Government has decided to revamp the first and business class offerings of the state-owned Air India, following its failed sell-off.
The Governent had hoped to sell the major stake it holds in the airline but received no bidders for the 76 percent chunk of the loss-making carrier. The government is committed to supporting the airline and to making it competitive, junior civil aviation minister Jayant Sinha said, adding Air India was also looking at flying to new destinations in Australia, Africa and even North America.
The unexpected revamp of the premier cabins will include an overhaul of the meal service is designed to attract more high-yielding passengers to its international flights. Currently, Air India only sells around 60% of the seats in business and first classes on its international flights and hopes the revamp will increase the load factor to around 80 percent.
Air India will start making the changes over the next two months and will include new meal services, passenger amenities and new uniforms for airline staff. The changes could raise an additional 0 billion rupees ($147 million) per year, according to the carrier's chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola.
"It is a surprise that they are going to be spending more money on a service that is already failing, but they have little choice as no company wants to invest in an airline that has such vast debts and little chance of returning to profit within the foreseeable future" our chief correspondent Jason Shaw said on Saturday.
