Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With plans to emerge as India’s—and potentially South Asia’s—biggest aviator, the Tata Group’s Air India is all set to buy as many as 500 aircraft at a cost of USD 100 billion, the media reported on Saturday.
The company, which the Tatas acquired on January 27, 2022, has finalized a deal to buy about 500 new aircraft which is seen as the single-largest order made by any airline so far.
The move is part of Air India, originally launched by the Tatas in the 1950s, before its nationalization and then privatization in 2021, to reinvent itself under its original promoters, led by the legendary JRD Tata.
According to reports, Air India may buy an equal number of aircraft from the French behemoth Airbus, and its US rival Boeing.
The 250 Airbus planes would include 210 single-aisle A320neos and 40 widebody A350s. The airline would also buy 220 Boeings, including 190 of its 737 MAX narrowbody jets, 20 numbers of 787 widebodies, and 10 777Xs, the reports said.
Boeing signed the deal with Air India on January 27 to mark the Tatas re-acquiring the airline, while Airbus did so on Friday
On the first anniversary of its ownership, the Tatas informed Air India staff on January 27 that the airline was “finalizing a historic order for new aircraft.”
This showed Air India’s plans to modernize its aging fleet of aircraft and re-capture a significant aviation market between India’s large overseas diaspora and cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai, dominated mainly by Gulf rivals like Emirates with its young planes.
The deal for 400 narrowbody planes will also allow Air India to win a bigger share of regional international traffic and the domestic market, setting up a battle on both fronts with IndiGo.
The record order aims to put Air India in the league of large global airlines and make it an influential customer for plane makers and suppliers at a time when its home market is seeing a strong post-pandemic recovery and travel surge.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, Air India, with its Maharajah icon welcoming guests, was known for its fabulously decorated planes and stellar service but its reputation declined in the mid-2000s as financial troubles mounted. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said it accumulated a whopping loss of Rs. 20 crores daily before the government sold it back to the Tatas in 2021.
Under its new owners, the airline is looking to restore its reputation at home and abroad as a storied carrier with impeccable service and world-class planes, the reports added.