Ailing Air India has sought funds worth Rs 4,270 crore from the government as part of its turnaround plans.
The airline plans to spend Rs 3,300 crore of the requested amount on its revival plan and the remaining Rs 970 crore to offset the impact of falling rupee.
The government is carrying out a massive turnaround plan for the national carrier, in which it will infuse a capital of Rs 30,231 crore till 2020-21, The Economic Times reported.
Air India is likely to turn profitable for the first time in more than four years, helped by a reduction of costs due to a slew of factors like cheaper fuel prices and increased capacity from Dreamliner operations, among others.
The state-owned carrier is expected to post an operating profit of about Rs 6 crore in the current fiscal year, its first since the merger of Indian Airlines into Air India in February 2011.
Recently, the carrier has recruited 500 cabin crew members and it plans to hire 1000 more in the next 12 months.
Currently, the national carrier has 21 Boeing 787-800 aircrafts and each Dreamliner plane can carry 256 passengers in a single flight compared to 195 seat capacity in older aircraft.
An increase in Dreamliner capacity is enabling Air India to improve its operational efficiencies as the carrier can carry more passengers per flight.
Air India has a debt of around Rs.40,000 crore, as it took loans for purchase of aircraft and working capital requirements. Its current fleet consists of 131 aircrafts, which includes Boeing, Airbus, ATR and CRJ planes.
Air India, which currently holds a fifth of the market share in domestic passenger traffic, has been making losses for years and has come under severe criticism for escalating costs.
