Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, a six-term MP from the Jat-dominated Baghpat who joined the UPA in 2012 to become the civil aviation minister, faces a formidable rival in the form of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh, who has been fielded by the BJP.

Air India's Dreamliner fleet suffered 136 "minor" technical problems between their delivery since September last year and till late last month and all these problems were fixed by technical teams of the airline and Boeing, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Monday.

The agreement was signed by Air India CMD Rohit Nandan and Adria president and CEO Mark Anzur in the presence of visiting Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Karl Viktor Erjavec and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh at the Ministry headquarters here.

While all nine planes were being flown daily, the tenth aircraft that arrived two days ago would be put into flight operations by November 15.

He, however, maintained it was his personal belief that, in the future, "the government of the day will have to look at privatisation and build a political consensus on the issue before taking a position. I never said I am going to do it".

The UPA government won't privatise national carrier Air India but the airline needs to perform if it doesn't want to perish - this is what Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Observing that the prime reason for these losses was high fuel cost which constituted almost 40-50 per cent of an airline's total costs, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were high due to rising base price and "very high VAT imposed by state governments."

Industry leaders and experts expressed concern over the rising cost of operations of the airline industry, but cautioned it not to take "irrational steps" like getting into a price war as such a move would further impact their financial bottomline.

After the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has sought more clarity on the Rs.2,058 crore Jet-Etihad deal about effective control and ownership of the premier Indian private carrier.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi this morning, allegedly to express his unhappiness about the role being attributed to him by the Prime Minister's Office in the controversial deal between Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and private Indian airline, Jet Airways.

BJP today demanded that the government order a CBI inquiry monitored by the Supreme Court to find out the manner in which the Jet-Etihad deal was carried out in "half-cooked" and "objectionable" manner.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today said it is important for India to allow Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways to buy stake in Jet Airways.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has defended the proposed deal for Gulf carrier Etihad Airways to buy 24 percent of Jet Airways for Rs 2,058 crore. He has also denied speculation that he is contemplating quitting the UPA government as he is upset that the deal has hit turbulence.

This will be Mr Fernandes's first visit after his company joined hands with the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia of Telestra TradePlace to launch a low-cost airline in a 49:30:21 partnership.

The national carrier's total revenue is expected to go up from Rs 16,130 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 19,393 crore in 2013-14, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said at a function here to celebrate completion of Air India's 65 yeas of service on the London route.

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh, a six-term MP from the Jat-dominated Baghpat who joined the UPA in 2012 to become the civil aviation minister, faces a formidable rival in the form of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh, who has been fielded by the BJP.

Air India's Dreamliner fleet suffered 136 "minor" technical problems between their delivery since September last year and till late last month and all these problems were fixed by technical teams of the airline and Boeing, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Monday.

The agreement was signed by Air India CMD Rohit Nandan and Adria president and CEO Mark Anzur in the presence of visiting Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Karl Viktor Erjavec and Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh at the Ministry headquarters here.

While all nine planes were being flown daily, the tenth aircraft that arrived two days ago would be put into flight operations by November 15.

He, however, maintained it was his personal belief that, in the future, "the government of the day will have to look at privatisation and build a political consensus on the issue before taking a position. I never said I am going to do it".

The UPA government won't privatise national carrier Air India but the airline needs to perform if it doesn't want to perish - this is what Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

Observing that the prime reason for these losses was high fuel cost which constituted almost 40-50 per cent of an airline's total costs, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices were high due to rising base price and "very high VAT imposed by state governments."

Industry leaders and experts expressed concern over the rising cost of operations of the airline industry, but cautioned it not to take "irrational steps" like getting into a price war as such a move would further impact their financial bottomline.

After the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has sought more clarity on the Rs.2,058 crore Jet-Etihad deal about effective control and ownership of the premier Indian private carrier.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi this morning, allegedly to express his unhappiness about the role being attributed to him by the Prime Minister's Office in the controversial deal between Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and private Indian airline, Jet Airways.

BJP today demanded that the government order a CBI inquiry monitored by the Supreme Court to find out the manner in which the Jet-Etihad deal was carried out in "half-cooked" and "objectionable" manner.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today said it is important for India to allow Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways to buy stake in Jet Airways.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has defended the proposed deal for Gulf carrier Etihad Airways to buy 24 percent of Jet Airways for Rs 2,058 crore. He has also denied speculation that he is contemplating quitting the UPA government as he is upset that the deal has hit turbulence.

This will be Mr Fernandes's first visit after his company joined hands with the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia of Telestra TradePlace to launch a low-cost airline in a 49:30:21 partnership.

The national carrier's total revenue is expected to go up from Rs 16,130 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 19,393 crore in 2013-14, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said at a function here to celebrate completion of Air India's 65 yeas of service on the London route.