Air India’s historic aircraft order has been long awaited and hotly anticipated. However, it now appears that the deal has officially been closed following reports.
Air India’s deal includes widebody and narrowbody aircraft from Airbus and Boeing and will consist of nearly 500 new planes across multiple families.
A long-rumoured deal emerged last year with talk that an A350 commitment could be announced at the 2022 Farnborough Airshow. While not confirmed, the Airbus A350 has always been a critical part of the deal. It is expected that 40 A350s will be included in the agreement. Meanwhile, continuing with Airbus, 210 A320neo family aircraft will be included.
Over at Boeing, there are three aircraft families included, with 190 737 MAXs set to be ordered alongside 20 787s. Air India already operates the Boeing 787 and has played an integral role in its long-haul operations. In addition, Air India is giving the 777X program a much-needed commitment, with 10 being ordered.
Tata group took over the carrier in 2022, and since then, it’s been an uphill battle trying to turn around the fortunes of the Indian carrier. This comes as the airline has had a very turbulent past decade that has seen it fall significantly from being the number-one choice for customers.
A deal is expected to be announced soon following both Airbus and Boeing’s part of the deal being concluded.
Good for Air India. A nice even split between manufacturers. Now if only Air India would retire their current, dated livery and come up with something more modern. That would be a nice fresh start for their branding.
Yes a new livery representing the modern india along with its traditional culture too
they have committed 400 million usd to refurbsihing the existing fleet. new livery, new seats and new infotainment are all parts of the refurbishment process.