Air-India to finalise on aircraft purchase today

With the Government deciding to defer divestment of national carriers Indian Airlines and Air India by a year, it is expected that A-I will not delay matters further and finalise its demand for medium capacity long range (MCLR) aircraft in its board meeting on Saturday.

It is understood that A-I could not finalise its decision in the last board meeting because the technical evaluation committee headed by M.K. Hathi had not completed the report. This is said to have been prepared now and the decision would in all probability be taken in this meeting. A-I will be looking at the purchase of 10 aircraft with an option of seven more amounting to an order over $2.5 billion. With the government interested in both companies going in for the purchase together, an A-I decision will help hasten the process.

The national carrier is looking at both 250-seater and 160-seater aircraft. Both Boeing and Airbus have been pitching hard for the order. In particular, there is keen competition between Boeing-737 and Airbus A321 in the 160-seater category.