IA to lease 12 aircraft

Wide-bodied planes will be leased between October and March

To strengthen its case for flying on additional international routes, state-run Indian Airlines (IA) today decided to lease 12 wide-bodied aircraft between October this year and March 2006.

This move by the carrier comes at a time when the government had turned down its request for additional frequencies on international routes citing inadequate fleet strength.

It may be recalled that in the recent allocation of routes to UK, the government had allocated frequencies to all Indian carriers including Air-India, while Indian Airlines was not allowed any new services.

The Indian Airlines board, which in last September had decided to lease six wide-bodied planes for this purpose along with replacements for three existing A-300 aircraft, today approved a proposal to increase the number of planes to be dry-leased by another three. This will take the total number of wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet to 15, though it is yet to decide which aircraft to lease.

Since these aircraft will be inducted by the next winter schedule, when the government is expected to allot frequencies to countries like UK and to the US, Indian Airlines will be in a better position to stake claim for the government's permission to fly on these sectors.

This move by Indian Airlines also assumes importance as private carriers have been allowed to fly on routes like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, where Indian Airlines has been the predominant Indian carrier till now.

The new wide-bodied aircraft will help Indian Airlines to boost its operations in these routes as well as to offer more capacity.

"In view of the recent opening up of international connectivity to and from India, Indian Airlines has planned additional international connectivity which has increased the requirement for leased aircraft," the airline said in a statement.

An in-house committee had earlier identified certain international routes including some currently operated routes on the Indian Airlines network as suitable for wide body operations.

After examining the preparedness, the committee had recommended to the Board of Directors that the carrier would require 12 wide body aircraft to boost its operations.

"In view of the current position of the lease market, Indian Airlines would be looking at a variety of wide body aircraft options," the statement said.

But, aviation industry experts are of the view that Indian Airlines could find it tough to lease wide-bodies aircraft at this time as Indian private carriers like Jet Airways and Air Sahara and other international carriers are currently shopping for leasing aircraft. As a result, the cost of leasing has also firmed up in the recent times by as much as 20 per cent.

However, it is pointed out that leasing of aircraft will be an interim option for Indian Airlines as it is in the process of finalising the Rs 9,475 crore plan to acquire 43 Airbus aircraft. Its present fleet has 62 aircraft.

Above the clouds

• The government had turned down IAs request for additional frequencies on international routes citing inadequate fleet strength
• The total number of wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet will now stand at 15
• This move by IA assumes importance as private carriers have been allowed to fly on routes like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
• Due to the on-line system, MTNL wil be able to bill long-distance operators daily