New Delhi: Air India and Indian Airlines have finalised hub-and-spoke arrangement between them to ensure seamless connectivity for passengers travelling from foreign destinations to interior places in India and vice-versa.

Announcing this at a meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry, Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said this would also enable Air India redeploy its A-310 aircraft more profitably on other routes where these big planes are suitable.

An exercise to rationalise the routes of the two airlines had also been undertaken so that both gave good competition to foreign carriers, instead of competing with each other, an official release said.

Despite the setback suffered due to last year's terror strikes in the US, Air India earned a profit of Rs 46.79 crore in the first half of this fiscal. It had earned a profit of Rs 15.44 crore in 2001-02.

Hussain said Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited had also earned a profit of Rs 62.18 crore in the last fiscal and had developed a global vision by entering into memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with two international helicopter operators.

PTI