Tata Group-owned Air India said it will buy a total of 470 wide-body and narrow-body planes from Airbus and Boeing, and the total deal value is estimated to be USD 80 billion (around Rs 6.40 lakh crore) as the airline expands its operations. After the deal was inked on Tuesday, February 14, Air India said that the first of the new aircrafts will enter service in late 2023 and the bulk of the planes are to arrive from mid-2025 onwards.
"The order comprises 40 Airbus A350s, 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777-9s wide-body aircraft, as well as 210 Airbus A320/321 Neos and 190 Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle aircraft. The A350 aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce engines, and the B777/787s by engines from GE Aerospace. All single-aisle aircraft will be powered by engines from CFM International," the airline said in a statement.
According to Air India, the first of the new aircrafts will enter service in late 2023 and the bulk of the planes are to arrive from mid-2025 onwards. "In the interim, Air India has already started taking delivery of 11 leased B777 and 25 A320 aircraft to accelerate its fleet and network expansion," it said. Tata Sons and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the airline is on a large transformation journey across safety, customer service, technology, engineering, network and human resources. "This order is an important step in realising Air India's ambition, articulated in its Vihaan. AI transformation programme, to offer a world-class proposition serving global travellers with an Indian heart. These new aircraft will modernise the airline's fleet and onboard product, and dramatically expand its global network," he said.
Mark D Martin, CEO of Martin Consulting, said Air India's induction of the Airbus A350 aircraft will help the airline operate with improved efficiency and reliability, as it has a 35% lower operating cost and over 28% lesser carbon emissions. "The strategy with Air India's 250 aircraft order from Airbus falls in line with a global star alliance strategy of offering global connectivity right from India bypassing regional hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain," he said.