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With Akasa Air announcing an order for 150 aircraft on Thursday, three Indian carriers together have ordered a total of 1,120 planes in less than one year as they expand their presence in the country's fast growing civil aviation market. The less than two-year-old Akasa Air has placed a firm order for 150 Boeing 737 Max planes, comprising 737 Max 10 and 737 Max 8-200 jets. In 2023, which also saw domestic air traffic climbing new highs, Air India and IndiGo together placed orders for 970 planes with Boeing and Airbus. Tata Group-owned Air India ordered 470 planes -- 250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing -- in February last year. Later in June, the country's largest airline IndiGo announced an order with Airbus to buy 500 narrow-body planes. Now, Akasa Air, Air India and IndiGo together have placed orders for 1,120 planes since February last year. Besides these orders, Indian carriers are set to take deliveries of new planes that were ordered earlier. IndiGo alone has an order book o
Japanese lender SMBC on Wednesday said the Tata Group-owned Air India has borrowed USD 120 million from it for purchasing a wide-body aircraft from Airbus. The transaction has partly financed Air India's purchase of an A350-900 aircraft from Airbus, which was delivered in October 2023, according to an official statement. SMBC said this is a secured debt facility through its Singapore branch, while Air India's GIFT City-headquartered arm AI Fleet Services is the borrower. The purchase is part of the mega announcement by the Tatas to buy a total of 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, and AI has also contributed equity. According to some reports, an Airbus A350-900 aircraft is priced above USD 300 million. "SMBC Group is pleased to expand upon its long-established relationship with Tata Group through this deal," the lender's country head for India Hiroyuki Mesaki said. He added that this is the the bank's first-of-its-kind transaction for aircraft finance lease. Nipun Aggarwal, Ai