Indian airlines Air India announced deals on Tuesday regarding a record 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, under new owners Tata Group.
Amidst competition from domestic giant Indigo, Air India will soon serve what will be the largest population in the world, as it moves ahead the old records, with the provisional deals, for a single airline that includes 220 planes from Boeing and 250 from Airbus.
As part of a number of high-level responses to the size of India’s needs, which offered both rivaling plane titans a rare opportunity in a sector where the victor normally takes all, US President Joe Biden called the agreement “historic” and discussed it over the phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Air India would employ the 210 A320neo narrowbody aircraft and the 40 A350 widebody aircraft from the Airbus deal to fly “ultra-long routes,” according to Tata Chairman N Chandrasekaran.
Boeing will provide 190 737 MAX aircraft, 20 787 Dreamliners, and 10 777X superjumbo aircraft.
According to an Airbus official, the total transaction includes 25 additional Airbus jets that will be leased, bringing the total to 495 aircraft.
The airline’s resurrection under the Tata conglomerate hopes to take advantage of India’s sizable diaspora around the world and rising base of travelers.
Campbell Wilson, the new CEO of Air India, is striving to restore its reputation as a premier airline and shed its reputation as a sluggish, disorganized enterprise with an outdated fleet and subpar service.
The political and economic significance of a contract involving the national airline was emphasized by the leaders of India and France.
With Macron promising cooperation in other industries, it is anticipated that the aviation agreement will have industrial offshoots.
According to Chandrasekaran, Airbus and Tata are collaborating on larger projects with the goal of “bringing in commercial aircraft manufacture at some point in the future.”
According to industry sources, Airbus has so far rejected the notion on commercial and budgetary grounds despite repeated requests from India to construct a final assembly line in the nation to match a plant in northern China.
The combined order for 460 Airbus and Boeing aircraft made by American Airlines more than ten years ago is surpassed by Air India’s order.
25 brand-new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and six brand-new Airbus A350 aircraft will be the first to arrive in the second half of 2023, with deliveries really picking up in 2025 and beyond.
The transaction, which is worth tens of billions of dollars even after considerable anticipated discounts, comes at a turbulent time for aviation manufacturers whose jets are once again in demand following the epidemic but who also have to contend with growing industrial and environmental challenges.
