One of the trusted national carriers in India, Air India has ordered 250 Airbus planes for the airlines with an objective to transform the former national carrier, as the carrier company said after years of being a substantial burden on the public money. With a great ambitious plan, the airline looks forward to getting back to a profitable standard of earnings in the third-largest air transportation market around the globe. The order for 250 Airbus planes is the first new aircraft takeup of the airline since its last purchase in 2006.
It has signed a letter of intent to purchase 40 long-haul A350 aircraft and 210 narrow-body A320neo jets, with an undefined number of additional options, as part of its strategy to gain domestic market share and develop Indian airports as major hubs for international travel. According to media sources, Air India will soon announce a comparable purchase arrangement with Boeing. The two transactions might constitute the single largest fleet purchase in aviation history.
Air India has signed a letter of intent to purchase 40 long-haul A350 aircraft and 210 narrow-body A320neo jets.
Chairman of Air India, N. Chandrasekaran announced the agreement of Airbus with Emmanuel Macron, who is the French President, and Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India during a virtual meeting. Currently, the airline is underway a great transformation. The chairman also added that a modern fleet that is capable of performing for all routes is one of the most critical aspects.
Tata Group, a tea-to-steel conglomerate, formed Air India in 1932, and the Indian government acquired the majority of the company’s stock after the country’s independence. But by the turn of the century, the endeavour was suffering from a lack of funding, failing to compete with Gulf carriers and no-frills airlines, and accruing enormous losses that burdened the public purse.
A year ago, Tata, which is also chaired by Chandrasekaran finally bought back the airline in a $2.4 billion deal. In the next 20 years, India’s aviation traffic is anticipated to rise at a rate of 6.6% annually, almost twice as fast as the global average. Guillaume Faury, the chief executive of Airbus said that this step will be a historic moment for India, Airbus as well as Air India. The country already houses an engineering centre for the European aircraft manufacturer, which also purchases some parts from Indian suppliers. Macron stated that the agreement emphasised the connection between Paris and New Delhi.
According to projections, India will require more than 2,000 aircraft over the next 15 years, therefore strengthening civil aviation is a crucial component of the nation’s infrastructure, according to Modi. The announcement took place at the same time as the Aero India event, which is taking place in Bengaluru, India’s tech hub, and is attended by major international aviation companies.
India will require more than 2,000 aircraft over the next 15 years.
Although Air India continues to be the largest international airline in the nation, its domestic market share was only 8.6% in September. By the end of 2027, it hopes to have a 30 per cent domestic market share while extending its fleet to serve more foreign routes. Despite the conglomerate’s six-decade hiatus from the aviation sector, aviation specialist Mark Martin told AFP that Tata Group is well-positioned to profit from the expanding market.
Campbell Wilson from New Zealand was appointed as the first foreign chief executive of Air India last year to maintain the operations of the airline as well as take the airline back to profitability. However, the airline came under fire for how it handled a Wells Fargo executive who was permitted to exit as scheduled despite being accused of urinating on an elderly woman on a trip from New York late last year.
