Tata Group-owned Air India Aviation industry sources said on Sunday, June 19, 2022 that it is looking at buying more than 200 new aircraft, of which 70 percent are narrow-sized aircraft.
He said Air India has selected Airbus’s A350 wide-body aircraft for purchase, but talks with Airbus and Boeing are still on for the narrow-body aircraft.
A wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A350 has a large fuel tank which allows it to travel long distances such as on Indo-US routes.
Air India has not bought a single aircraft since 2006, when it ordered 111 aircraft – 68 from US-based aircraft maker Boeing and 43 from European aircraft maker Airbus.
After successfully winning the bid for the airline on October 8 last year, the Tata group took over control of Air India on January 27.
Aviation industry sources said on the sidelines of the 78th Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association that Air India is looking to buy 200 new aircraft. Narrow-bodied aircraft will have a 70:30 share compared to wide-bodied aircraft.
He said a decision has yet to be made on which narrow-sized aircraft to buy – to go for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft or Boeing’s 737Max aircraft.
According to the Air India website, the airline has a total of 49 wide-body aircraft in its fleet – 18 Boeing B777s, 4 Boeing B747s and 27 Boeing B787s. The carrier also has 79 narrow-bodied aircraft in its fleet.