Air India ground handling unit

NEW DELHI: Aviation industry major Bird Group on Wednesday said that it has expressed its interest in buying Air India's ground handling subsidiary.

"We have sent a letter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation evincing our interest in buying the Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL)," an authorised spokesperson of the company said.

"We have also suggested to the government to consider selling the subsidiaries separately, so as to get the maximum capital out of the sale, so that the proceeds can be used to pay off the massive debt accumulated by the airline." According to the spokesperson, AIATSL is a "natural choice" for the company which is also engaged in providing ground handling services.

Bird Group was founded in 1971 with interest in travel technology, ground handling, aviation, hospitality, luxury retail and education services.

At present, it offers ground handling services at seven domestic airports.

The Bird Group's interest in AIATSL was disclosed by Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey on the sidelines of an industry event held here on Wednesday.

Currently, Air India's portfolio of subsidiaries include Air India Engineering Services, Air India Transport Services, Alliance Air, Air India Express and the Hotel Corporation of India. It also has a ground handling joint venture AISATS. The airline had posted an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in 2015-16.