The aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, today announced that it has been awarded a maxi order for 250 new aircraft by Air India.
Specifically, the record order includes 210 A320neo Family aircraft and 40 A350 widebody aircraft, but Chandrasekaran, president of the Tata group (head of Air India), revealed that Air India’s order could be extended in the future if necessary. With this in mind, Air India is likely to add nearly 50 more aircraft by the end of next year, thereby increasing its capacity by around 50%.
Today’s order is part of the plans of the Tata Group, which together with its partner Singapore Airlines plans to merge Air India with the newcomer Vistara and thus compete for the market with the low-cost airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo and with Emirates, Qatar and Etihad for long-haul flights. In fact, Air India’s goal remains to expand its fleet and its global network, in order to increase its market share to 30% in the next five years both on the domestic market and on the front of international routes.
Recall that Air India has not bought new aircraft for more than 16 years. The last order dates back to 2005, the year in which the Indian airline ordered 111 aircraft.