IA fleet acquisition likely to have Phase II

Ministry suggestion of wide-bodied aircraft spurs move.

The Union civil aviation ministry has asked the Indian Airlines (IA) board to consider buying wide-bodied aircraft for its fleet.

Consequently, the airline's Rs 10,000 crore fleet acquisition plan, through which it proposes to acquire 43 aircraft, will be followed by another purchase proposal or a Phase II acquisition plan.

This is because the original proposal had gone through a lot of deliberations and reworking it and restarting the acquisition process from ground zero would be a wasteful exercise.

Union minister of civil aviation Praful Patel said IA needs wide-bodied aircraft, particularly for its operations in the Gulf and south-east Asian countries.

"The existing wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet are in the process of being phased out. This has not been factored into the initial fleet acquisition proposal," he said.

Wide-bodied aircraft such as A300s have three seating rows with two aisles instead of two rows and an aisle.

Patel said the original 43 aircraft buying proposal was conceived in 1998 as per the scenario then. "It is a completely different situation now and IA needs to incorporate the changes," he said.

The current 63-strong fleet of IA comprises 42 A320s (30 owned and 12 leased), four A300s, 11 Boeing 737s, four ATRs and 2 Dorniers.

The A300s are in the process of being phased out, while 11 Boeing 737, which are operated by IA's subsidiary Alliance Air, are due for replacement.

IA proposes to add 43 Airbuses "" 19 A319s, 20 A-321s and four A-320s, in five years once it gets a green signal from the government and places the order with the aircraft manufacturers.

IA's initial fleet plan has been hanging fire due to bureaucratic delays. The proposal is currently stuck at the Public Investment Board approval stage.