Air India to shift base to Delhi

Air India would shift its headquarters from Mumbai to Delhi as part of its Turnaround Plan, but no date has yet been finalised, official sources said today.

With Delhi airport emerging as its major operational hub, most flights of the national carrier were being operated out of here.

Under the Turnaround Plan, government promised a package of Rs 30,000 crore to Air India over the next nine years if the airline met certain milestones and deadlines to improve its performance, both financially and operationally.

The Plan included a series of cost-cutting measures, including monetisation of Air India's assets in India and abroad. Shifting of the headquarters to Delhi along with its operational base and leasing out vacant space at Mumbai's famed 23-storey Nariman Point building are part of this move to monetise Air India's assets. The airline has already closed several offices abroad.

The plans are aimed at enabling Air India to earn additional revenue from its assets, the sources said. Observing that the shifting process would take some time, they said the basic idea was to optimally utilise resources and manpower to bring in more operational efficiency.

Meanwhile, the Ministry has appointed Prabhat Kumar, who was the Aviation Minister's OSD till recently, as a member of Air India Board.