Air India Finalises Huge Order of Buying 250 Airbus planes, Likely to be First Indian Airline to Operate A350

Air India has not purchased a single aircraft since 2005 and the last order was for 111 aircraft and with this deal the airline is likely to be the first Indian carrier to operate Airbus A350.

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Air India and Airbus have agreed on an order for about 250 aircraft, and the deal is anticipated to be confirmed next week on Thursday. The knowledgeable source added that the airline has a contract with Boeing for roughly 200 aircraft. It was impossible to gather specifics right away, and Air India made no public comments regarding the deals. Air India, a company owned by the Tata group, is growing both its fleet and operations.

On January 27, Air India chief Campbell Wilson said the airline is finalising a historic order of new aircraft. Air India, earlier under the ownership of the government, had acquired new aircraft more than 16 years ago.

It has not purchased a single aircraft since 2005 and the last order was for 111 aircraft -- 68 with Boeing Co and the remaining 43 with Airbus -- and that deal was worth USD 10.8 billion. The source told PTI that the deal with Airbus for around 250 planes has been finalised and the announcement is likely next week. The deal is likely to include 40 wide-body Airbus A350s and Air India will be the first Indian carrier to operate the aircraft.

In the past, Air India had operated wide-body A330s. On Wednesday, aviation consultancy CAPA said Indian carriers are likely to place orders for up to 1,700 planes by 2024 and Air India may make the first move with some 500 planes ordered.

Currently, Indian carriers operate less than 50 wide-body aircraft, an insignificant number for such a significant market. In contrast, Emirates alone has a fleet of over 260 wide bodies, CAPA had said. Recently, IndiGo started wide-body operations on the India-Turkey route with a wet-leased B777 and plans to induct two more such planes.

With PTI Inputs