AI to buy 250 planes from Airbus
   Date :15-Feb-2023

250 planes from Airbus 
 
 
 
NEW DELHI, 
TATA Group-owned Air India will buy 250 aircraft, including 40 wide-body planes, from Airbus as the airline expands its fleet and operations. This is the first time in more than 17 years that Air India has placed an aircraft order. It is also the first order placed by the carrier under the ownership of Tata Group. On Tuesday, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said Air India has signed a letter of intent to acquire 250 aircraft from Airbus. It will include 40 wide-body A350 planes and 210 narrow-body aircraft. During a virtual event being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, among others, Chandrasekaran said the wide-body planes will be used for ultra-long haul flights. Generally, flights that have a duration of a little over 16 hours are called ultra-long haul flights. Since acquiring loss-making Air India from the Government in January 2022, Tata Group has been taking various measures to revive the carrier.
PM hails Tata-Airbus deal: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the deal between Air India and Airbus under which the Tata-owned carrier will acquire 250 aircraft and said India’s growing aviation sector would need over 2,000 aircraft in the next 15 years. Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran announced that Air India will acquire 250 aircraft, including 40 wide-body planes, from Airbus.
Addressing an online event at which the purchase of Airbus aircraft was announced, Modi said the “landmark deal” reflects the deepening ties between India and France, as well as the successes and aspirations of India’s civil aviation sector. “Our civil aviation sector is an integral part of India’s development. Strengthening the civil aviation sector is an important aspect of our national infrastructure policy,” he said. In the last eight years, the number of airports has gone up from 74 to 147, Modi pointed out.
Through the scheme UDAN, remote parts of the country are also being connected through air connectivity, which is giving a boost to the economic and social development of the people, he said. In the near future, India would become the third biggest market in the world in the aviation sector, he said. India can mobilise world to address issue of Russia-Ukraine war: Macron: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership can mobilise the world to address the “tremendous issue” of Russian aggression against Ukraine. “We are working for the success of India’s G-20 Presidency in a difficult context with the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Macron said.