Air India has signed one of its biggest ever aircraft deals with Airbus to acquire 250 planes.
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Tuesday announced this in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emanuel Macron.
The order includes 40 wide-body A350s and 210 Airbus narrow-body aircraft.
During a virtual event, Chandrasekaran said a letter of intent has been signed with Airbus for the acquisition of the aircraft. This is the first time in more than 17 years that Air India has placed an aircraft order.
It is also the first order placed by the carrier under the ownership of Tata Group.
Congratulating the Tata Group and Airbus on the successful agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the deal reflects deepening ties between India and France, as well as the successes and aspirations of India’s civil aviation sector.
He said India’s growing aviation sector would need over 2,000 aircraft in the next 15 years.
Addressing an online event at which the purchase of Airbus aircraft was announced, Modi said the “landmark deal” reflects the deepening ties between India and France, as well as the successes and aspirations of India’s civil aviation sector.
“Our civil aviation sector is an integral part of India’s development. Strengthening the civil aviation sector is an important aspect of our national infrastructure policy,” he said.
In the last eight years, the number of airports has gone up from 74 to 147, Modi pointed out.
Through the scheme UDAN, remote parts of the country are also being connected through air connectivity, which is giving a boost to the economic and social development of the people, he said. In the near future, India would become the third biggest market in the world in the aviation sector, he said. In the next 15 years, over 2,000 aircraft would be required, he added.
Many new opportunities are opening up in aerospace manufacturing under India’s ‘Make in India - Make for the World’ vision, the Prime Minister said. “Whether it is the issue of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, or global food security and health security, India and France together are making a positive contribution,” Modi said in his remarks. Today, the India-France partnership is playing a key role in ensuring stability and balance of the international order and the multilateral system, he said.
Earlier, Chandrasekaran said Air India has signed a letter of intent to acquire 250 aircraft from Airbus. It will include 40 wide-body A350 planes and 210 narrow-body aircraft. During a virtual event being attended by Modi and Macron, among others, Chandrasekaran said the wide-body planes will be used for ultra-long haul flights.
Generally, flights that have a duration of a little over 16 hours are called ultra-long haul flights. Since acquiring loss-making Air India from the Government in January 2022, Tata Group has been taking various measures to revive the carrier.
Air India, earlier under the ownership of the Government, had acquired new aircraft more than 17 years ago. The airline’s last order was for 111 planes -- 68 from Boeing and 43 from Airbus -- and that deal was worth USD 10.8 billion. The order was placed in 2005.
On January 27, when the Tata Group completed the first year of taking over Air India, the airline said it was “finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth.
The airline has put in place a roadmap under Vihaan.AI for transformation over the next five years and has taken various measures, including committing USD 400 million to refurbish the interiors of its entire wide-body fleet.