India’s private airlines threaten no-fly strike on domestic routes on August 18, 2009

Private airlines in India have announced that they will not fly on domestic routes on August 18, 2009, to press their demand for a bailout from the government of India. However, private airlines will operate their international flights on that day.

In a statement, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) – which includes Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Red, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Jetlite, Spice Jet, and Go Air – said that tickets booked for August 18, 2009, will be refunded.

Air India, owned by the government and India’s national flag-carrier, has said it will not participate in the no-fly strike.

Anil Baijal, secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Airlines, said in the statement that the member-airlines of the Federation is unable to operate any more if the government does not provide them with financial relief.

Vijay Mallya, chief of Kingfisher Airlines, told a news conference in Mumbai that private airlines may have to go to the extent of suspending domestic flights indefinitely if the airlines’ losses go on rising.

Naresh Goyal, chief of Jet Airways, said all private airlines in India are in dire straits and that governments all over the world are helping the airline sector to cope with the current economic downturn.

The Federation of Indian Airlines is demanding, among other things, reduction in the price of aviation turbine fuel and a cut in airport charges.

The Federation justified asking for a bailout from the government, arguing that the private airlines have been weighed down by high fuel costs, low fares as well as by a marked decline in passenger traffic.

The airline industry, the statement from FIA added, is estimated to lose Rs 57,000 crore in 2009, and it had suffered a loss of Rs 10,000 crore in 2008-2009.

So far, the government of India has not announced any relief plan for the airline sector.

However, the government had, a week ago, asked the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Petroleum to help Air India, which incurred a loss of Rs 7,200 crore in 2008.

Private airlines in India account for over 80 per cent of domestic flights, by flying more than 100,000 passengers daily.

If the no-fly strike materialises, about 12,000 domestic flights by private airlines will be cancelled and the domestic travellers will have to depend on around 300 scheduled flights by Air India and the extra flights it may operate on August 18, 2009.