Govt Employee should Fly only by Air India - Government

In an effort to shore up revenue streams for Air India, the finance ministry on Monday ordered all central government employees to fly only on the state-owned flag carrier for their official travel-both domestic and international. This is one of the steps the government is taking to lend confidence to a clutch of lenders the airline plans to tap for medium-term loans. Senior finance ministry officials said a revenue stream for the airline was better than leasing planes to augment its fleet, given the weak aviation market leasing would provide little comfort to the lenders.

The order states: "For travel to stations not connected by AI, officials may travel by AI to the point closest to their eventual destination, beyond which they may utilise the services of another airline, which should also preferably be an alliance partner of the national carrier." The order reverses the permission given to government employees to use private carriers, in December 2005. The fiat will also apply to officials in autonomous bodies funded by the government of India. Of the 10.9 million domestic passengers on all carriers in the April-June period, AI has ferried 1.91 million, or 17.5%, according to data released by the government on Monday.