Indian finds no takers for its leasing plans

The Indian aviation sector might be booming with airlines going on an acquisition spree. However, the exponential growth of this industry ha...

The Indian aviation sector might be booming with airlines going on an acquisition spree. However, the exponential growth of this industry has thrown up a new set of problems—shortage of aircraft available on lease.

The first to be hit seems to be public sector carrier Indian whose proposed US and Europe take-offs have been grounded due to non-availability of wide-bodied aircraft.

The airline had issued tenders couple of months ago for acquiring Airbus A-330s, A-340s, A-310-300s, Boeing B-767 (extended range) version and B-777s, aiming to primarily expand its international operations. However, the airline had to extend the tender deadline till January 31 as it could not get a favourable response from suppliers. The airline was planning to announce the winners of the bid on the same day.

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‘‘Yes, we had extended the deadline till January 31 as we could not get adequate responses,’’ a senior Indian official said, adding, ‘‘We’re yet to get a single bid for 12 aircraft.’’

However, if insiders are to be believed, the air carrier is facing problems and will probably have to extend the tender date once again due to shortage of response from leasing firms.

Sources say that officials from Airbus are in contact with Indian top brass officials but no single firm is in a position to cater to the airline’s needs due to acute shortage of the desired aircraft in the global market.

Indian wants these wide bodied aircrafts for starting its operations to the US and Europe. It already caters to destinations in the Gulf. The airline was planning to take deliveries of these leased aircraft from February till January 2007 for a period of five to seven years.

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Even Air India’s dedicated cargo venture had to be stalled due to the non-availability of the required type of leased aircraft.

‘‘Most of the airlines like to go in for the planes for their fuel efficiency. The demand for aircraft which Indian is seeking is quite high in the global scenario with the bulk of the demand coming from low-cost carriers. I think it is mainly a problem of high demand and limited supply,” Edelweiss Capital’s aviation analyst Nikhil Garg said.