Jet Airways-Air France-KLM said to be bidding for Air India
ET Bureau|
Updated: Mar 11, 2018, 08.39 PM IST
A strong buzz in the market has it that Jet Airways,its European carrier combine partners Air France-KLM and its Amercian partner carrier Delta Air Lines are bidding for national carrier Air India which has been put on the block by the government.
Three executives at Jet Airways said they couldnt comment. An email sent to Jet didn’t elicit any comment before the story went to press.
Jet has deep commercial ties with the airlines that gives it access to more than 100 European and US destinations.
ET had on Jan 31 cited a CAPA-Centre for Aviation report that said at least half a dozen carriers including Jet Airways will show interest in Air India. The other carriers it named were Vistara, SpiceJet and IndiGo which has made its intentions public. A jet executive had said he wouldn’t comment on speculations. Tata Sons has expressed its interest too. A spokesperson at Air France-KLM said she couldnt comment.
Bidding for Air India would be an ambitious and tough call for Jet which is now aligning its operations with its western partners Air France-KLM. Also, Air India comes with a host of problems including a Rs 55,000 crore burden of debt and an inflated workforce.
Also, neither Jet nor its European partners may have the current financial strength and appetite to digest Air India. Jet’s net profit for the December quarter fell to Rs 177.26 crore compared to Rs 297 crore a year earlier, making it the worst performing among listed Indian carriers. Air France-KLM posted a net loss of EUR274 million during 2017.
Delta Air Lines is the only one among the partners perhaps has the muscle for the deal. The airline posted a net profit of $3.6 billion last year.
A more recent CAPA report also said Jet’s current partner Etihad Airways would exit the airline by December. Etihad, which owns 24% of Jet, denied the news.
Three executives at Jet Airways said they couldnt comment. An email sent to Jet didn’t elicit any comment before the story went to press.
Jet has deep commercial ties with the airlines that gives it access to more than 100 European and US destinations.
ET had on Jan 31 cited a CAPA-Centre for Aviation report that said at least half a dozen carriers including Jet Airways will show interest in Air India. The other carriers it named were Vistara, SpiceJet and IndiGo which has made its intentions public. A jet executive had said he wouldn’t comment on speculations. Tata Sons has expressed its interest too. A spokesperson at Air France-KLM said she couldnt comment.
Bidding for Air India would be an ambitious and tough call for Jet which is now aligning its operations with its western partners Air France-KLM. Also, Air India comes with a host of problems including a Rs 55,000 crore burden of debt and an inflated workforce.
Also, neither Jet nor its European partners may have the current financial strength and appetite to digest Air India. Jet’s net profit for the December quarter fell to Rs 177.26 crore compared to Rs 297 crore a year earlier, making it the worst performing among listed Indian carriers. Air France-KLM posted a net loss of EUR274 million during 2017.
Delta Air Lines is the only one among the partners perhaps has the muscle for the deal. The airline posted a net profit of $3.6 billion last year.
A more recent CAPA report also said Jet’s current partner Etihad Airways would exit the airline by December. Etihad, which owns 24% of Jet, denied the news.
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