‘Need Fully Functional In-Flight Entertainment For Ultra-Long Haul Flights’: Air India Requests Government

Air India has asked the government to allocate funds for the refurbishing the interiors and ensuring fully functional in-flight entertainment (IFE), as reported by Economic Times.

One of the primary reasons why the passengers choose an alternative long-haul flight is because there is no IFE on the Air India flights. “Big foreign airlines spend huge sums of money on interior upgradation. We cannot do that much, but some things need to be ensured like having fully functional IFE screens on AI’s long-haul flights. We will seek money for this from FinMin,” said Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu.

The government has asked the Air India (AI) management to provide a cost-estimation of demands made by the latter. The Aviation ministry will then demand a special fund from the government, over and above the bailout package.

The Air India management has pitched a presentation to the aviation ministry under which it proposed revenue enhancement and cost-cutting measures. “Together, these two should lead to the benefit of Rs 2,000 crore per annum,” quoted aviation secretary R N Choubey.

AI is contemplating on whether repair or replacement of the IFE would be more cost-effective in the long run.