The Hindu Business Line : 4 TN cos jointly buy aircraft for exec travel

FOUR Tamil Nadu-based companies, some of them with manufacturing plants in different locations, have purchased a six-seater aircraft for executive travel.

The aircraft, a King Air turbo prop, cost about Rs 8 crore. The four companies will equally share the cost and also have an equal share in usage, according to reliable sources.

The companies that have bought the aircraft are the Madurai-based T.V. Sundram Iyengar & Sons Ltd and Thiagarajar Mills, the Chennai-based Sundram Fasteners Ltd, another TVS group company, and the Chennai-based Ramco group.

According to the sources, the aircraft will be stationed on a regular basis in Madurai and will be available for use by the top executives of these four companies. The aircraft can log a flying time of 25,000 hours in all. The King Air aircraft, according to the sources, can land and take off from smaller airfields also as it does not require long runways. That is why the four companies decided to go in for this aircraft. It will help in reducing travelling time for the executives as a couple of the companies that own it have manufacturing plants in different locations, some quite far from a regular airport where commercial flights operate to.

For instance, Sundram Fasteners has plants in Madurai, Hosur and Pondicherry and the Ramco group's Madras Cements Ltd has plants in Andhra Pradesh that requires an overnight train journey and then a four-hour trip by road. Likewise, Ramco Industries has plants in Kharagpur and Silvassa, which are also quite far removed from regular airports. However, according to the sources, private airfields are available in these places and the King Air aircraft can land and take off from these fields, thus considerably reducing the travelling time for the top management of the companies.

More Stories on : Airlines | Trends | Airlines | Tamil Nadu

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Reliance Info reluctant to change numbers of its mobile subscribers

Come Jan 20: Farmers get call centre
PM to launch Jaikisan TV channel, FM radio service

4 TN cos jointly buy aircraft for exec travel

MFs - which is the biggest of them all?

Wary of bad hire, IT goes for background checks

SEBI halts Ondeo Nalco open offer plan