A-I sets up panel for aircraft buys

AVIATION INDUSTRY SPREADS ITS WINGS

Air-India, which had placed a $7.2 billion order for 68 Boeing planes, has set up an internal committee to consider new aircraft acquisitions.

The airline is looking at acquiring over 30 aircraft, including wide-bodied and smaller ones for massive expansion, according to sources.

The fresh acquisition is aimed at catering to increasing passenger growth and the need of keeping the average fleet size younger. Sources said Air-India will create a template to chart out the acquisition requirements and will hold discussions with aircraft manufacturers in the first quarter of the next financial year.

"The current average age of Air-India's fleet is 12 years while its competitor Singapore Airlines enjoys an average age of 4-5 years. The fresh round of acquisition will enable the airline to keep the fleet young with less maintenance," they said.

The state-run carrier, which will soon merge with Indian Airlines to form a new entity, is looking at positioning itself as one of the top ten airlines in the world.

Confirming this, Air-India Chairman and Managing Director Vasudevan Thulasidas said, "We want to grow and want more airplanes. We have appointed a committee comprising directors to look at our future needs." He declined to comment on the number of aircraft required.

Sources said the airline is studying the forecast of International Air Travel Association and new slots available in other countries to open new routes.

"The airline is also studying infrastructure at Indian and international airports. The fleet size of the airline may come down as the leased airplanes returned and some of the airplanes converted into freighters," they added.

Currently, the ratio of owned and leased of Air-India's fleet is 50:50. "With new aircraft coming from Boeing and the fresh acquisition, Air-India will enjoy the benefit of a higher number of owned airplanes than leased," they added.

Recently, Air-India placed orders for 68 airplanes in which five B737-800s have already joined to its fleet. This orders includes 18 B737-800 aircraft (for Air-India's subsidiary Air-India Express), 8 B777-200LR, 15 B777-300ER and 27 B787 Dreamliners.

Earlier this month, the Cabinet approved the merger between two state-run carriers "" Air-India and Indian (formerly Indian Airlines). The legal and procedural formalities to form the merged entity will be cleared in the next 16 weeks.

The fresh round of acquisition will give a fillip to the merged entity to parry international competitors like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Thai and Malaysian. Though the merged entity will have 122 aircraft immediately after the merger, international airlines have already placed massive orders to expand their networks.