By Aditi Shah and Tim Hepher
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Air India has agreed to buy 250 jets from Airbus, including 210 narrowbody planes and 40 widebody aircraft, N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Group, the airline’s new owner, said on Tuesday.
The deal is part of a huge order by Air India for 470 planes, which is expected to also include an order for 220 planes from Airbus rival Boeing, as the airline heralds a decade-long expansion and reinvents itself under Tata.
“We on our part are going through a massive transformation because we are committed to building a world class airline. One of the most important thing is a modern fleet which is efficient and can perform for all routes,” Chandrasekaran said.
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.
Reuters in December reported that Air India was in negotiations for a deal close to 500 planes.
Even after significant expected discounts, the deal would be worth tens of billions of dollars at a volatile time for plane giants whose jets are again in demand after the pandemic, but who face mounting industrial and environmental pressures.
(Reporting by Aditi Shah in Bengaluru and Tim Hepher in Paris; additional reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Editing by Jamie Freed and Mark Potter)
