Air India is about to receive financial support of 100 billion rupees (€912 million) from its current owners, the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, at a time when the airline is facing the aftermath of a particularly turbulent year.
According to "Bloomberg" based on what was published by the newspaper "The Times," this capital injection will be linked to the achievement of a series of performance targets and will be disbursed in stages, in several tranches.
The backing will be articulated through a strengthening of the shareholding position of the current owners of the company. Currently, Tata controls 74.9% of the capital, while Singapore Airlines holds the remaining 25.1%.
The Indian flag carrier has just gone through an extremely complex period, marked by the tragic accident of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner —"in which more than 240 people died"—, the closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian airlines, and the conflict in the Middle East, which has significantly altered travel routes and skyrocketed fuel costs.
To these difficulties is added that Air India recorded historic losses of 220 billion rupees (€2.006 million) in its last fiscal year, which ended last March.
In this context, the newly appointed CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, who will officially join the company at the end of this month, has set as priorities strengthening Air India's cargo business and addressing the persistent maintenance issues of its fleet.