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Bloomberg
Air India has signed agreements with Airbus SE and Boeing Co for what could become the largest purchase of jetliners in commercial aviation history, as the carrier seeks to reinvent itself with a fuel-efficient fleet that can take on local low-cost rivals.
The airline has agreed on the outlines of the accord with the two planemakers and may formally announce the deal as early as next week, according to people familiar with the talks, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential.
Airbus stands to win about 250 orders and commitments in total, made up of 210 of the A320 single-aisle family models and 40 A350s wide-bodies, the people said. Boeing has secured about 290 possible purchases, with 190 737 Max aircraft and the option for 50 more, as well as 20 787 Dreamliners and the same number as a possible top-up, alongside 10 777x aircraft, the people said.
The final tally could still change because of the complicated structure of the deal, which is made up of firm orders, memorandums of understanding and letters of intent, both of which are less firm than an outright purchase accord, the people said.
Officials for Airbus, Boeing and Air India declined to comment. Air India and its parent, Tata Group, spent months negotiating the massive transaction, which should allow the carrier to upgrade service and reliability while lowering fuel costs. It’s also an attempt for the storied airline to win back traffic from rivals. Carriers around the world have been upgrading and refreshing their fleets to cash in on the rapid rebound in travel after the Covid pandemic. Locking in fresh aircraft commitments had become a matter of urgency for Air India as the supply of newly built jetliners became increasingly constrained.
Airlines are ramping up their long-haul capacity, enticed by the prospect of the world’s biggest outbound tourism market being open for business again and betting that demand more broadly will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023. Tata bought Air India last year in the most high-profile privatisation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The transaction ended decades of attempts to offload the money-losing, debt-laden carrier that survived on years of taxpayer bailouts.
As part of the purchase, the group is consolidating its aviation business, which includes four airline brands.