New Delhi: Tata-owned Air India will acquire 250 aircraft from Airbus, group chairman N. Chandrasekaran announced Tuesday.
Chandrasekaran said the group has signed the deal for 210 narrow-body aircraft and 40 wide-body A350 planes, with the option to increase the fleet order. The wide-body aircraft will be used for long-haul flights.
“We have built a very good relationship with Airbus. Today, I am happy to announce that we have signed a letter of intent to acquire 250 aircraft from Airbus,” Chandrasekaran said during the launch of the new Air India-Airbus Partnership via video conference.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury also attended the launch of the partnership.
The deal will mark a turning point for Air India which, under new chief executive Campbell Wilson, is working to revive its reputation as a world-class airline and shake off its image of being a tardy, run-down operation with an ageing fleet and poor service.
Air India’s order is expected to top American Airlines’ combined deal for 460 Airbus and Boeing planes more than a decade ago – making it the single largest deal by an airline.
“It is a historic moment for Airbus to help script Air India’s revival,” Faury said at the event, which was also attended by Ratan Tata.
The Airbus deal is part of a massive 470-jet acquisition by the former state-run carrier — the other 220 will be placed with Boeing.
“This contract is a milestone in the friendly relations between India and France,” Macron said at the conference.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country’s aviation sector would need more than 2,000 aircraft in the next 15 years. “India can become a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub for the aviation sector in the region,” he said. Modi added that many new opportunities were opening up in aerospace manufacturing under India’s “Make in India-Make for the World” vision.
“Whether it is the issue of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, or global food security and health security, India and France together are making a positive contribution,” Modi said.
India is a major buyer of French military aircraft, having recently purchased the Rafale fleet from France’s Dassault Aviation, after decades of flying the Mirage 2000 of the same company.
Meanwhile, American multinational Boeing released a statement during the ongoing Aero India show in Bengaluru which predicted Indian passenger traffic to grow by 7 per cent annually in the next 20 years. It said the country would require 2,210 new planes.
“The Indian market is recovering rapidly and its domestic capacity has exceeded 2019 levels, with domestic traffic expected to double by the end of this decade,” Dave Schulte, Boeing commercial marketing managing director for Asia Pacific, said in the statement.
Boeing also said it plans to invest about $24 million in India to set up a logistics centre for airplane parts “to boost its footprint in the country that it considers as the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world”.
Also read: France’s Macron says France committed to work with India beyond aircraft