AI arm on the ground set to fly

Mumbai: Air India’s (AI) wholly owned subsidiary Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) is finally growing wings. Three years after it was set up, the company has begun its ramp and ground handling operations at four Indian airports, and is now all set to launch its services at more airports.
The cost efficiencies of AI’s ground handling arm has also started trickling in. An Air India official disclosed that AIATSL, which has begun outsourcing ramp and ground handling services at Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Pune, has pruned the airline’s expenses by around Rs 20 crore.
And as the company expands its services to more airports, there would be higher cost saving for it. “There are plans of operationalising AIATSL services at Hyderabad, Trichi, Mangalore, Kolkata and other airports this year. With that, our cost base can be brought down even lower as more and more services get outsourced through AIATSL,” says Venkat.
06/04/06 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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