London: Air India, the national carrier, has turned the corner after being in the red for seven years and will have a brand new image by the year end, Minister for Civil Aviation, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain has said.

The airlines, which made a profit of Rs 20 crores in 2001-02, after making losses for seven continuous years, will acquire eight aircrafts on lease and commence a Delhi-Frankfurt flight from September, Hussain who, is on a four-day visit said in an interview.

He said the government was trying to make Delhi and Mumbai international hubs on the pattern of Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.

Besides, the government was also trying to attract foreign investment in leasing out the four major airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, wherein foreign investors would have 74 per cent holding and the rest 26 would vest with the Airport Authority of India, he said.

"The government planned to raise Rs 16,000 crores by this move," he said.

Spelling out his ministry's ambitious plan to give a new image to "Maharaja", Hussain said the carrier would have better seats and improved catering service. "We are going to have eight aircraft on lease, mostly Airbus 310," he said.

Hussain also said the government has earmarked Rs 112 crores for the development of the airport at Bodhgaya, the Buddhist pilgrimage centre in Bihar, which was added to the list of world heritage centres by the UNESCO recently.