IOC threatens to cut fuel supply to Air India for non-payment of bills; flight services likely to be partially hit

Mumbai: State-owned Air India’s flight services are likely to be hit partially as public sector oil marketing firm Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has threatened to cut fuel supply at some of the airports from today (16 July) evening on non-payment of bills, according to a source.

The disinvestment-bound carrier, which is incurring Rs 15 crore loss per day, has huge dues towards oil companies and Airports Authority of India, among others.

“Indian Oil Corporation has threatened to stop fuel supply at certain airports such Patna, Pune, Chandigarh, Cochin, Visakhapatnam and Ranchi for non-payment of dues from 4 pm Tuesday,” the source said.

In the eventuality of the oil firm implementing its notice to Air India, there will not be fuel available to flights operating out of these airports and may impact operations as well, the source added.

In view of the IoC notice, the airline has asked its flight crew and dispatchers that they “must carry fuel for next sector or alternative re-routing to be planned to maximise the payload, until the situation is normalised,” as per the source.

The national carrier is reportedly expected to post its highest-ever loss of over Rs 7,600 crore in the previous fiscal on account of low fleet utilisation and high fuel prices, among others.