Air India is apparently continuing its negotiations with Boeing, as well as Airbus, as the newly-privatized airline looks to revamp its fleet.
According to a report by Reuters, the India-based carrier is looking to finalize an agreement with Boeing for over 200 aircraft, namely 190 Boeing 737 MAX and 30 787 Dreamliner jets. The report further indicated that the deal could also involve the 777X. Previous reports from December 11, 2022, pointed out that Air India was looking to order as many as 500 new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, split into 400 narrow-body jets and 100 wide-body jets.
Air India has also set its sights on taking Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that were destined for other airlines and placing it with its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express. The reported total of the 737 MAXs was up to 50, which would available for delivery on short notice.
The carrier, which was fully privatized in January 2022 when the Indian government sold it to Tata Sons, has gone through quite a transformation since the acquisition. The Indian conglomerate that took over Air India bought out AirAsia’s stake from AirAsia India, a joint venture between AirAsia and Tata. It also announced plans to merge Vistara into Air India in November 2022.
Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. The Singaporean airline would have a 25.1% stake in Air India, injecting INR50.2 billion ($615 million) of capital into the Indian airline, following completion of the merger. Tata Sons would keep a 74.9% stake.
At present, Air India’s fleet of 112 aircraft is an average of 10.1 years old.