Air India made a loss of Rs 800 crore in the books, in the sale of five Boeing 777 aircraft to Etihad Airways as these aircrafts had depreciated in the books over 20 years, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.
However, the national carrier generated a surplus of over $25 million after prepayment of aircraft loan and saved a further $5 million per month towards loan and interest repayment, Minister of State for Civil Aviation G M Siddeshwara said in reply to a question.
“The five planes were sold to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad at a price of $336.5 million,” he said. Referring to the losses, he said, “based on the book value of these planes, book loss on sale of these five aircraft would be approximately Rs 800 crores as the aircraft had depreciated in the books over a period of 20 years while the loans were amortized over a period of 12 years".
“However, the national carrier generated a surplus of $25.735 million after prepayment of the Aircraft loan when the national carrier sold these five B777-200LR aircraft,” he said. “Further, a saving of $5 million per month was generated towards loan and interest repayment, resulting in improved cash flow,” he said.
He also said that the planes were found uneconomical primarily due to high fuel cost and low yields due to competition.
“The sale followed the due process and with the approval of the competent authority, as the operations of these planes had led to huge losses over the years, further aggravating the financial position of AI,” he said.