IA board not to revisit fleet acquisition plan

Having already addressed Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel’s concerns over a replacement for the Airbus A300 aircraft by deciding to lease nine wide-bodied aircraft in its previous board meeting, the Indian Airlines board today decided not to make any changes in its earlier decision to purchase 43 Airbus aircraft at a cost of over Rs 10,000 crore.

The Ministry had earlier asked the airline to revisit its fleet expansion plan and consider including a set of wide-bodied aircraft to replace the Airbus A300 which are in the process of being phased out. At its last board meeting, the airline decided to lease nine wide-bodied aircraft but did not take a decision on whether to revisit its fleet expansion plan. The board today decided that its March 2002 proposal to acquire 20 Airbus A-319s, 19 Airbus A-321s and four Airbus A-320s, ‘‘does not need to be revisited’’ as it had already been decided to dry-lease nine wide-bodied aircraft to meet demands of increased passenger and cargo capacity on international routes.

The IA Board has also urged the government to expedite the process of obtaining the Public Investment Board’s approval for enabling acquisition at the earliest.