Mumbai: The government has declined to immediately allow state-run Air India Ltd to offer US-bound passengers immigration pre-clearance facility in India, a service that rival Etihad Airways PJSC offers from its Abu Dhabi airport hub.

Through pre-clearance, immigration, customs and other related inspections of international air passengers performed on arrival in the US can be completed before departure at a foreign airport.

Air India (AI) will sign an agreement with Citibank and State Bank of India to raise $300 million (Rs 1,900 crore) of external commercial borrowing.

The loan is backed with a sovereign guarantee and will be used for working capital, payment for aircraft spares and bridging the gap caused by delays in equity infusion by the government. The first tranche will be released next week, AI sources said. The loan is repayable over five years and carries annual interest of around 2.5 per cent.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday ordered the removal of Air India chief of air safety Captain AS Soman for not maintaining flight monitoring data, sources said.

Soman was appointed Air India's air safety chief in January this year.

Air India will, for the first time, raise $330 million (Rs 2,000 crore) through the external commercial borrowings (ECB) route. The money will spent on aircraft maintenance, said civil aviation ministry officials.

“Once this money is raised, Air India will utilise it on improving fleet maintenance,” said officials. At any point of time, Air India has only 52-54 of its narrow body aircraft in working condition, in an overall fleet strength of 62 aircraft.

Indian airlines will no longer require prior permission to import aircraft as the civil aviation ministry plans to do away with the norm to facilitate ease of doing business.

The move is part of a slew of initiatives taken to improve business conditions in the domestic aviation sector. The ministry also expects to soon unveil the much-awaited aviation policy that would help attract more investments into the sector.

Debt-laden Air India plans to sell properties and land parcels worth nearly Rs 250 crore spread across three cities.

To monetise these assets of Air India, the Civil Aviation Ministry would soon be moving a Cabinet note.

The civil aviation ministry is making efforts to secure about Rs 2,400 crore for Air India through supplementary budgetary allocations and recovery of dues worth Rs 600 crore, related to use of its planes for VVIP travel. Of the total, about Rs 1,800 crore is being sought to meet the funding shortfall faced by the cash-strapped government carrier.

Efforts are being made to secure funds for Air India as the supplementary demands of ministries would be considered during the coming monsoon session of Parliament beginning July 21.

Air India and Air India Express, its budget carrier have begun restricting the hand baggage weight for passengers coming from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi as many of the passengers break prescribed weight norms with their duty-free shopping, reports an English daily.

Free allowance for hand bagage are strictly limited to 8 kg for Air India and 7 kg for Air India Express, inclusive of duty-free items. However many a times passengers carry at least double the free allowance weight without being noticed. Baggage with weight over 7-8 kg will be charged a fee of 60 Dirhams (Rs 1,035) per excess kilo and taken from the passenger at the boarding gate.

Mumbai: Insurance companies are getting ready to bid aggressively for Air India’s $9 billion cover, coming up for renewal on 1 October.

State-run Air India, which floated a global tender for the policy to cover its 126 aircraft, expects to buy the policy at a reasonable discount, given the rise in the number of underwriters and its safety record, said two Air India executives.

NEW DELHI: Air India is raising up to $350 million to meet its working capital requirement through the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route.

In 2012, cash-strapped Indian carriers were allowed to raise up to $1 billion through ECB route for working capital requirements. "A big private airline has availed of $300 million and another has taken $50 million this way. The balance that remains is $650 million. AI is going to raise $300-350 million for meeting its working capital requirement for spare parts," said a senior official.

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