Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Air India focused on 'day-to-day survival' amid shutdown concerns

INDIA'S debt-crippled national airline is focused solely on daily survival and keeping its flights in the air, a spokesman said Thursday (28), after the government warned it would have to shut down unless a buyer was found.

Air India owes more than $8.6 billion or £6.6bn and has struggled to pay salaries and buy fuel, with losses mounting following earlier privatisation attempts.


The company is unable to pay its debts and its outlook is "gloomy", spokesman Dhananjay Kumar said.

"We are concentrating on day-to-day operations and not focusing on the future," he told.

"Whatever resources we have, we are trying to use them in an optimum manner and trying to run our flights."

Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said Wednesday (27) that the airline would "have to close down if it is not privatised", adding the government would soon invite takeover bids.

The company's debt mountain may be hived off in a bid to make it more attractive to potential buyers, according to media reports.

Kumar said Air India was not yet in discussion with the ministry over any shutdown plans.

But in more bad news for the beleaguered airline, a planned sale of the Air India headquarters in Mumbai may be blocked after prime minister Narendra Modi's party was ousted from power in Maharashtra state, local media reported.

The previous state government had agreed to buy the building to help clear the airline's debts.

Founded in 1932 and formerly India's monopoly airline, the company was once known affectionately as the "Maharaja of the skies".

But it has been haemorrhaging money for more than a decade and has lost market share to low-cost rivals in one of the world's fastest-growing but most competitive airline markets.

State-run oil companies halted fuel supplies to Air India in August over delinquent payments. The firms agreed to lift the suspension the next month after talks brokered by the government.

The local aviation sector has been stuck in a slump since the collapse of Jet Airways earlier this year.

Successive governments spent billions of dollars to keep Air India operating before the first failed bid to sell off the airline last year.

(AFP)

More For You

JLR Tata

A logo is pictured outside a Jaguar Land Rover new car show room in Tonbridge, south east England.

JLR Q1 sales dip as US tariffs hit exports

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a 10.7 per cent drop in sales for the April–June quarter, as a temporary pause in shipments to the United States and the phase-out of Jaguar’s legacy models weighed on volumes.

The company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, sold 87,286 units to dealers worldwide during the quarter, compared to 97,755 units in the same period last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less