Air India boss says carrier 'not financially viable'
Air India believes it is an "operationally viable" airline as compared to 2 years ago, but is still concerned about its financial situation. Airline chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani says that despite making an operating profit of INR1.05b (US$15.7m) for the 2016 financial year and forecasting that it operating profit will grow threefold in its next financial year, the carrier's financial situation "has not stabilised at all". "We still have a huge amount of money needed to be repaid as interest for borrowings…amounting to INR40b annually. That is what's pulling us down," Lohani adds. "We are an operationally viable airline, but not financially viable." Lohani is confident that divestment will help Air India with a "complete turnaround", but acknowledges that the carrier's accumulated debt of INR550b "will not be easy to handle." <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2017-08-04/star/air-india-boss-says-carrier-not-financially-viable
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Air India boss says carrier 'not financially viable'
Air India believes it is an "operationally viable" airline as compared to 2 years ago, but is still concerned about its financial situation. Airline chairman and MD Ashwani Lohani says that despite making an operating profit of INR1.05b (US$15.7m) for the 2016 financial year and forecasting that it operating profit will grow threefold in its next financial year, the carrier's financial situation "has not stabilised at all". "We still have a huge amount of money needed to be repaid as interest for borrowings…amounting to INR40b annually. That is what's pulling us down," Lohani adds. "We are an operationally viable airline, but not financially viable." Lohani is confident that divestment will help Air India with a "complete turnaround", but acknowledges that the carrier's accumulated debt of INR550b "will not be easy to handle." <br/>
