Air India to fly smaller, older planes to Gulf

Air India plans to withdraw the more modern Airbus 321 aircraft from the Dubai and Sharjah routes  and replace it with the older Airbus 320 with effect from October 28.

According to Air India sources, the engineering wing of the airline has already issued a circular to the effect that with effect from October 28, the A 321 planes will be withdrawn from Dubai and Sharjah routes. The airline is justifying this decision by saying that the number of passengers in these routes does not justify a bigger aircraft.

Abhay Pathak, Air India's regional manager for Gulf, Middle East and Africa, said he is not sure of the replacement. “I am not sure about this, but it could be part of our winter scheduling,” he told Emirates 24|7. He said he will have to confirm the news from higher authorities.

According to sources,  the A321 can carry 172 passengers and more than  two tonnes of cargo or luggage. The A320 can carry 146 passengers.

“When the A320 was used on these busy routes, passengers often experienced delays in getting their luggage . If the aircraft is full, it cannot carry all the luggage. On such occasions, the airline would offload part of the checked- in baggage which would be delivered two or three days later,” said sources familiar with the route. But winter is a lean period for these routes, according to airline officials, and flying the A320 is reasonable.

Passengers are not happy about Air India’s decision to switch aircraft on these routes. “During our last meeting with Air India officials, they agreed to introduce  the A321 temporarily. It has more passenger capacity, good facilities and is more fuel efficient than the A320. They are withdrawing  these aircraft from the Gulf sector, which is a cash cow for the airline, and deploying  them in the US and European sectors. Ideally, the airline should be using the A321 in the Gulf sector because it is 40 per cent more fuel efficient than the A320 and can solve the problem of luggage offloading,” said KM Basheer, president  of the All India Airport Users Forum.

“There have been cases where passengers on the A320 got their luggage after a week. As the Gulf route is giving maximum profit to the airline, passengers on these routes should have the better aircraft. The airline is giving a step motherly treatment to Gulf passengers,” he added.
 

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