Ashwani Lohani To Be New Air India Chief

Engineer-turned-bureaucrat Ashwani Lohani has been appointed as the chairman and managing director of national carrier Air India. Mr Lohani will have a fixed tenure of three years as Air India boss.

Mr Lohani replaces Rohit Nandan, whose extended tenure ends on Friday.

A 1980 batch Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) officer, Mr Lohani is currently posted as managing director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.

Air India, which controls close to a fifth of India's domestic air travel market, has been losing money for years and has long been criticized for its high costs.

Last month, the finance ministry said it will provide an additional funding of Rs 800 crore for the ailing airline. Air India was allocated Rs 2,500 crore in this year's Budget.

In 2012, the government had announced a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package for Air India. Air India had reported a net loss of Rs 5,547 crore in 2014-15. (With inputs from agencies)