Air India to order 35 wide-bodied aircraft

Seattle: India's flag carrier Air India will place firm orders for up to 35 wide-bodied aircraft in addition to the 68 Boeing 777s and 787s ordered last year, a top official said here.

"We are currently in the middle of a fleet restructuring plan which has identified the need for additional capacity," V. Thulasidas, Air India's chairman and managing director told Gulf News on the sidelines of a Boeing media briefing on the 787 Dreamliner rollout programme.

"We believe, we will require additional 30-35 wide-bodied aircraft and some more single-aisle aricraft for the low-cost brand."

He said, the additional fleet is required within three to five years as India's aviation industry is growing very fast.

He said, Air India is set to launch a number of flights to the US, with Mumbai New York flights starting on August 1.

"Following our open air skies agreement with the United States, we are now planning to start more flights to the US," he said.

"Following the Mumbai-JFK flights on August 1, we are planning to start flights on New Delhi-New York, Mumbai-Chicago and Bangalore-San Francisco routes, pending new aircraft deliveries.

India's domestic aviation market is growing by 40 per cent while international traffic in and out of India surged 15 per cent last year, making it one of the fastest aviation markets in the world.

"India is the world's fastest growing aviation market and the challenge is to cope up with the growing domestic demand," he said.

The airline, which is in the process of a merger with Indian Airlines, will have a fleet of 115 aircraft when the merger is completed in a few months. Both the airlines have a combined orderbook of 111 aircraft including 68 Boeing and 43 Airbus.