NEW DELHI, Feb 15 – Western leaders celebrated Air India’s purchase of 470 passenger planes from Airbus and Boeing in landmark deals on Tuesday.
Air India will purchase 190 Boeing 737 Max jets, 20 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777-9 planes.
The Boeing deal includes options for 50 more 737 aircraft as well as 20 additional 787s, according to a Boeing statement.
Airbus announced that Air India has agreed to buy 250 aircraft from it.
The order includes 140 A320neo and 70 A321neo single-aisle aircraft as well as 34 A350-1000 and six A350-900 wide-body jets.
The formerly state-owned airline, acquired by Indian conglomerate Tata Group in January last year, said the deals with the European and American plane makers would drive its domestic and international expansion.
“These new aircraft will modernise the airline’s fleet and onboard product, and dramatically expand its global network. The growth enabled by this order will also provide unparalleled career opportunities for Indian aviation professionals and catalyse accelerated development of the Indian aviation ecosystem,” Tata Sons and Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran said in a statement.
“Air India is on a large transformation journey across safety, customer service, technology, engineering, network and human resources,” he said.
Before the Indian government sold it to Tata, the airline incurred huge annual financial losses and was often criticised for its service quality.
The plane deals, worth more than US$70 billion at list price, were hailed by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron for their potential to boost business relations with India.
“The deal is a testament to the deepening relationship between India and France as well as the successes and ambitions of India’s civil aviation industry,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a video meeting with the French president.
Macron said the contract “marks a new stage in India and France’s strategic partnership.”
A British government media release noted that a significant portion of the manufacturing process for the new aircraft is expected to take place in the UK and will create hundreds of new jobs.
The A350 aircraft are exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce XWB engines, which are assembled in Derby, it said.
“This landmark deal between Air India, Airbus and Rolls-Royce demonstrates that the sky’s the limit for the UK’s thriving aerospace sector,” Sunak said.
The US president called the Air India-Boeing contract “historic” that reflects “the strength of the US-India economic partnership.”
