As the Indian government plans to invite bids for Air India during the next few months, a top official of global airlines body IATA said on Wednesday that the disinvestment of the national carrier should be done in a fair and transparent manner and in a way that it improves competition within the aviation sector of the country. Moreover, the official said that the Jet Airways’ bankruptcy – which happened in April this year – does raise questions on the sustainability of the Indian aviation sector.
“The only thing that we can say about privatisation of Air India is that if it has to be done in a way that would probably maintain or improve the competitive conditions of the market,” Alexandre de Juniac, Director General, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday. “And, also, it should allow the government to devote some of the resources, which it was giving to Air India, to the wider aviation sector probably,” he told reporters.
