There could be trouble ahead for Air India on some flight segments after the Indian Oil Corporation threatened to cut off fuel supply due to unpaid bills.
Indian media cited a source saying that fuel supply could be halted at airports including Patna, Pune, Chandigarh, Cochin, Visakhapatnam and Ranchi.
The airline has asked dispatchers and pilots to ensure ‘fuel for the next sector or alternative re-routing to be planned to maximise the payload, until situation is normalised.’
The fuel supplier is one of the national airline’s biggest creditors along with Airports Authority of India.
The government said it is still committed to the strategic disinvestment of Air India to ease the burden on the taxpayer but will likely put in place conditions that it remains an Indian majority owned company.
The demise of Jet Airways has benefitted domestic rivals and made Air India a more ‘attractive acquisition,’ said aviation minister, Hardeep Singh Puri.
Puri acknowledged the high cost of fuel has hit Air India hard as well as other Indian airlines.
