Air India losses start declining,says Patel

State-owned Air India,which recently received its first shot of government equity,had begun to show a declining trend in losses,said civil aviation minister Praful Patel.

“Earlier,the losses were in the average of Rs 400 crore per month. Now these have started coming down by at least Rs 100 crore per month,” Patel said today. It is the first time since the March 2007 merger that there has been any sign of recovery in the cash-strapped airline,which has started experiencing some improvement in yields with a rise in passenger traffic.

On Air India’s future,Patel ruled any immediate change in ownership structure. “The new Air India board is having a complete review of the airline’s functioning. They have formed four sub-committees (on audit,finance,strategy and HR) for the purpose. So,there is no immediate necessity for the Union Cabinet to take any decision,”he said on the sidelines of a CII

conference on Indo-US relations here.

Air India recorded a loss of Rs 5,500 crore in 2009-10 which is estimated to rise to Rs 7,000 crore this year.