Air India had to ground 281 flights over the past three years, most of them due to a technical snags.

However, there is no data available to establish that due to the aged fleet, the aircraft of Air India developed technical snags, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

He said the average age of Air India's fleet is 14.6 years.

"During the period 1st April, 2004 to 25th April, 2007, Air India operated 1.01 lakh flights of which there were 281 aircraft on ground. Out of these, 237 flights were grounded due to technical reasons," Patel said.

Shortage of pilots: As against the requirement of 1580 sets of crew equivalent to 3160 professional pilots, 2940 pilots are available in the aviation sector leaving a shortfall of seven per cent, Patel said.

He said the airlines are coping up with the demand by employing expatriate pilots and retired pilots below the age of 65 years, subject to medical fitness.

Ageing aircraft: 123 aircraft more than 20 years of age are operating in the country, Patel said. Of the 123 aircraft, 38 are registered with the public sector operators and 85 with private operators, he said.

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