Mumbai’s towering billboards, which hawk everything from the latest Bollywood movies to soda, block out more than some sunlight. They’re also a physical hurdle preventing Air India Ltd. from reaching its potential on what should be one of its most lucrative routes. The height of billboards near India’s financial hub means the Boeing Co. (BA) 777-300ER jets the carrier uses for non-stop flights to Newark, New Jersey, near New York City must fly 51 fewer passengers, or 15 percent below capacity, in order to clear them.

That’s costing 100 million rupees ($1.6 million) a month in lost revenue, India’s junior aviation minister G.M. Siddeshwara told parliament yesterday. For Air India, which is surviving on a 300 billion-rupee taxpayer bailout and hasn’t made a profit since fiscal 2006, the adjustment means further delays in eliminating losses. The billboards, some as high as a seven-story building, line the main road between Mumbai and the hub in a northwestern suburb

Click Here To Read More