Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha on Friday said the government was well on track to complete the stake sale process in Air India by the end of this calendar year as was decided earlier.

"Our timelines are very clear and our goal is to award it (Air India) by the end of June and to have the whole transaction closed and done and transfer of airline to the private sector by the end of this calendar year.

Committed to accelerate Air India’s disinvestment program soon, government is likely to invite the initial bids in a couple of weeks, PTI reported citing Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey. The process of Air India’s disinvestment is likely to invite Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from interested parties in the coming few weeks, PTI reported. Currently, the ministry is also engaged in finding buyers for its subsidiaries and Pawan Hans, the report said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Saudi Arabia had granted Air India permission to fly over its territory on its new routes to and from Tel Aviv.

There was no immediate confirmation from either Saudi officials or Air India. Mr. Netanyahu made the announcement during a briefing in Washington to Israeli reporters after he had met U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mumbai: Divestment-bound national carrier Air India is looking at raising Rs500 crore by selling land and real estate in 2018-19, and is likely to sell some of its prime properties across the country, two senior officials of the airlines said.

The airline is looking to sell several of its land blocks and real estate including a 4-acre piece of land at Delhi’s Baba Kharak Singh Marg, residential colony at Vasant Vihar, a piece of land in Chennai, and a half-acre plot in Mumbai’s Pali Hill that houses about 14 apartments, one of the officials said.

The government is likely to include call and put options in the share purchase agreement of Air India to profitably sell its residual stake in the airline after strategic disinvestment.

A put option gives the existing shareholders the right to sell securities at a specified price, thereby providing an exit route from the company. A call option allows the buyer to acquire shares at a predetermined price, which is usually above the current price, within a limited time period, allowing it to increase its shareholding in the company.

National carrier Air India plans to lease "new iPads with pre-loaded content" for service recovery onboard its aircraft.

According to the tender document issued on February 23, 2018, the airline intends to deploy 150 new iPads on 18 aircraft.

Air India stake sale: After Civil Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju said earlier this month that any ‘unsolicited expression of interest’ in Air India is no longer relevant, even as many airlines are reportedly queuing up to pick up a stake in the state-run carrier, the minister said on Wednesday that no final decision has been made as yet. Addressing a press conference yesterday, Civil Aviation Minister Gajapathi Raju said that while there is no final decision as yet, there are lots of suggestions and the government is still mulling on the issue.

A mid-air disaster was averted in the Mumbai airspace when a Vistara aircraft came perilously close to an Air India plane, prompting the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) to launch a probe.

On February 7, the Vistara's UK 997 Pune-bound aircraft from Delhi, carrying 152 passengers, was just 100 feet away from the Air India's AI 631 flight for Bhopal which had 109 passengers on board.

Contrary to popular belief that Air India made a turnaround under the current National Democratic Alliance government, figures show that its loss widened instead. According to figures provided in Parliament by minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, the state-owned carrier registered a loss of Rs 57.65 billion in FY17, Rs 19.29 billion higher than Rs 38.36 billion loss in FY16.

The figures reflect significant deviation from the minister’s own parliamentary disclosure on July 27, 2017.

Saudi Arabia has allowed Air India to use its airspace for flights between Delhi and Tel Aviv, Israeli daily Haaretz reported. However, a spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation was quoted in another media report denying that any such permission was granted to Air India.

It could not be confirmed from either the ministry of civil aviation here or Air India, whether the national carrier has been given right to use Saudi airspace for flight to Tel Aviv.

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