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250 Airbus aircraft, 220 from Boeing: Air India’s multi-billion dollar deal

February 14, 2023
Bharat Times

Air India to buy over 450 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing

New Delhi:
Tata group’s Air India has signed a multibillion-dollar deal with France’s Airbus and US aircraft maker Boeing to buy 470 passenger planes in the biggest purchase program in commercial aviation history.

Here’s your 10-point cheatsheet for this big story:

  1. The deal for the entire 470 aircraft will be valued at between $70 and $80 billion, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV.

  2. Air India, which the Tata group bought from the government in October 2021, will buy 250 aircraft from Airbus and 220 from Boeing.

  3. “I am proud to announce today the purchase of over 200 American-made aircraft through a historic agreement between Air India and Boeing. This purchase will support more than one million American jobs in 44 states, and many A four-year college degree would not be required.” US President Joe Biden said in a statement today.

  4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Biden spoke on the historic agreement between Air India and Boeing. Both hailed the deal as a “shining example of mutually beneficial collaboration”. Air India has an option to buy 70 more aircraft from Boeing.

  5. The Tata group’s 250-plane deal with Airbus is for 40 A350 wide-body long-range aircraft and 210 narrow-bodies, believed to be variants of the A320neo family of jetliners.

  6. “This is a historic moment for Airbus to help script Air India’s revival,” Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said in a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ratan Tata, French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders. “

  7. “This agreement is a milestone in the friendly relations between India and France,” Mr Macron said at the conference, which was also attended by Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran.

  8. There are two versions of the A350 family – the A350-900, and the long-fuselage A350-1000. Airbus’ narrow-body aircraft include the A320 and A220 families of aircraft. Several airlines in India already fly the A320 family.

  9. The shopping list given to the US company includes 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777-9s wide-body aircraft and 190 Boeing 737 Max single-aisle aircraft.

  10. Air India can also improve its livery. Last month, it committed $400 million to refurbish the interiors of its entire wide-body fleet. Air India said these would include “latest generation seats and best-in-class inflight entertainment systems”.