Rumours on Air India shutting down baseless, will continue to fly, expand, says CMD

Chairman and Managing Director of Air India (AI) Ashwani Lohani on Saturday dismissed the rumours regarding the shutting down or closing operations of the public carrier.

Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Air India (AI) Ashwani Lohani on Saturday dismissed the rumors regarding the shutting down or closing operations of the public carrier. "Rumours regarding Air India shutting down or closing operations, are baseless. AI would continue to fly and expand," said Lohani in a statement.

Asserting that the national carrier is still India's biggest airline, he said that there should be "no cause for concern to travelers, corporates or agents." The response from the airline comes two days after Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had met with several representatives of the Air India unions regarding the privatization of the national carrier. The government had on Tuesday said the privatization of debt-ridden Air India has become a compulsion as fear grows about the shutdown of the national carrier."I had said earlier also, for us, it is not an option. Air India has to be privatized," Puri had said. The Minister had also said the debt over Air India has made it unsustainable and the national carrier needs to go in private hands to keep it running."Air India over a period of time has now gathered debt, which could be described as unsustainable," Puri had said.