The country’s unified national carrier, formed after the merger of Air India and Indian (Airlines), will start operations from July 15. The new carrier will be branded Air India.

Revealing this, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today said a massive route rationalisation exercise was already on and personnel of both the national carriers were working out unified flight schedules for the new entity.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is of the view that leveraging the combined assets of both the national carriers will results in huge gains. “To give you one example, route rationalisation on the India-Kuwait route will bring in a benefit of Rs 80 crore annually to the merged entity,” Patel said. Accenture, the consultant advising the ministry on the merger, is working on route rationalisation and rescheduling.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Ministry is planning to review the restriction requiring an airline to have five years of experience in domestic flying before it can be allowed to fly internationally. “Instead of a blanket review, there will be a review on case-to-case basis. For instance, we’ll see whether there is a requirement on some sectors and whether carriers have the capability to operate on them,” Patel said, adding that the guideline stipulating a minimum fleet of 20 aircraft before a carrier can fly abroad would continue.

Patel further said his ministry had submitted the much-awaited Civil Aviation Policy to the Cabinet which was likely to take it up sometime in May. “It is actually a Vision 2020, amalgamating the various issues concerning the aviation sector,” said the Aviation Minister .

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