Air India Orders 100 More Airbus Aircraft: Fleet Expansion

Mumbai, Dec 9 (PTI) Private carrier Air India on Monday announced placing an order to purchase 100 more Airbus aircraft, comprising 10 wide-body A350 and 90 narrow-body A320 family aircraft including A321neo.

These 100 new aircraft are in addition to the orders of 470 aircraft that Air India had placed with Airbus and Boeing last year, Air India said in a statement.

The airline also announced it has tied up with Airbus for component and maintenance support for its A350 fleet.

The latest order takes the total number of aircraft that Air India ordered with Airbus from 250 to 350. The order placed in 2023 for 250 planes comprised 40 A350 and 210 A320 family aircraft.

Air India in February 2023 announced that it would place an order for 470 aircraft, with an additional 370 options.

This was confirmed in June 2023, with the order comprising 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.

However, in December last year, the airline rejigged this order with 140 neo planes and 70 A320neo, as against the earlier order of 140 A320neo and 70 A321 neo aircraft.

Besides, it also reshuffled its A350 order with 20 A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s as against six A350-900 and 34 A350-1000s ordered in February 2023.

"With India's passenger growth outpacing the rest of the world, its significantly improving infrastructure and an aspirational young population increasingly going global, we see a clear case for Air India to expand its future fleet beyond the firm orders of the 470 aircraft placed last year," said Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and Air India.

These additional 100 Airbus aircraft will help position Air India on the path to "greater growth" and contribute to our mission of building Air India into a world-class airline that connects India to every corner of the world, he said.

With the order for 100 additional aircraft, Air India currently has a total of 344 new aircraft incoming from Airbus, having received six A350s so far, it said.

Air India in 2023 had also placed orders for 220 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft with Boeing, of which 185 aircraft remain to be delivered, the company said.

Meanwhile, Air India on Monday also said it has selected Airbus' Flight Hour Services-Component (FHS-C) to support the maintenance of its growing A350 fleet.

The new materials and maintenance contract will help Air India optimise the reliability and performance of its A350 fleet, with comprehensive engineering services and integrated component services including on-site stock at Delhi provided by Airbus.

"Having personally witnessed the formidable growth of the Indian aviation sector in recent months, I am glad to see Air India renew its trust in Airbus with this additional order for both our A320 family and A350 aircraft. Through this continued partnership, we are committed to supporting the success of Air India's "Vihaan.AI" transformation plan under Tata's vision and leadership," said Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO.