Air India orders 100 Airbus aircraft
India’s Air India owners, the Tata Group, have signed contracts for an additional 100 airplanes with Airbus: 90 of A320 family and 10 of A350 wide-body aircraft. Costing about $6.4 billion after discounts, it supplements another order of 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing placed in February 2023.
There has been a dramatic transformation of Air India after its acquisition by Tata Group early this year, 2022; for instance, the airline is now undertaking a $400 million refurbishment program of 67 existing aircrafts with an aim of enhancing passengers’ comfort. The erstwhile state owned airline has also merged with the Vistara which is operated in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines to expand the fleet and coverage.
These strategic steps aim at developing the capabilities of Air India as a competitive international carrier that can fully challenge well established foreign airlines carriers as well as counter rising demands in the newly emerging airlines industry in India.
