Air India drops lease plans, proposes purchasing Boeing planes

Air India is planning to switch from sale and lease back to acquisition model for Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft citing higher operating expenses and redelivery costs.

The move comes in the backdrop of operating losses in two consecutive quarters in FY 2017, largely blamed on increase in lease rentals. Air India suffered an operating loss of Rs 460 crore in the July-September period, after another Rs 246-crore loss in the financial year's first quarter, April-June.

Air India has 27 Boeing 787s on order and has already inducted 23 aircraft. Twenty-one of them are on lease following sale-lease back transaction. The airline