MUMBAI: To cut down mounting fuel costs, Air India has adopted a slew of measures including shedding weight on its flights by carrying less food, newspapers and a half-filled water tank.

“The aircraft will now be put on a diet...the fly-light programme is expected to bring down fuel costs by Rs 400 crore this fiscal,” a senior Air India official said.

Apart from this, a dust free regime is also proposed as dust in aircraft adds to its weight, leading to increased fuel consumption.

"Our fuel bill this fiscal is likely to be over Rs 8,000 crore. By adopting the above measures, we aim to bring it down by at least five per cent or Rs 400 crore," the official said.

The state-run air carrier's losses for the fiscal ended March 2008 are said to be in the range of Rs 2,000 crore, against Rs 688 crore (including Indian) in the year-ago period.

“Every extra gram of weight on the aircraft adds to fuel cost... We will stick to this mantra to cut down our fuel costs, which today account for almost 50 per cent of our total operating cost,“ the official said.

Heavy meals, voluminous magazines, bulky newspapers and a large quantity of water on-board all result in aircraft guzzling extra fuel, the official said.