Boeing says 'low fare madness' threatens Indian airlines

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2006

NEW DELHI (AFP) — An overcapacity of airline seats in Indian skies is leading to "low-fare madness" that threatens the viability of the sector, a senior official of US aerospace giant Boeing said. "The losses in the Indian aviation industry are a cause for concern," said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president of sales.

"Today the pricing in the Indian market because of overcapacity has become so low that it is not allowing airlines to break even," he told AFP in a telephone interview late last week. "This kind of low-fare madness cannot go on forever," Keskar said. India is a key market for the Seattle-based company which has predicted the country's state-run and private carriers will buy 856 airplanes worth 72.6 billion dollars between now and 2026. Keskar's comments...