Tata Group-owned Air India Ltd. Is all set to sign a deal with Boeing Co to buy around 150 737 Max planes in a bid to expand its fleet, said a report on Friday. This will be Tata Sons’ first major order after the group bought the ailing airline from the Government of India.
The order is also the biggest so far for the American aircraft manufacturer after it sold 75 aircraft to Akasa Air in 2021, a report in ET said. Air India is likely to take delivery of 50 737 MAX aircraft initially, and later add more to its fleet. The Air India-Boeing deal is likely to be finalised in the next few days.
The American aircraft manufacturer Boeing has promised to deliver 50 aircraft by March 2023, the report said.
The planes, as per the news report, were meant to be delivered to China Southern, which wanted to take immediate delivery of 103 aircraft. But the deal went cold after Boeing was not given a certificate by the Chinese air safety and aviation regulator, which grounded the company in 2019 following two crashes.
Later, the aircraft were booked by Tata Group.
India’s largest conglomerate Tata Sons at present owns four airlines, Air India and its other arm Air India Express, along with a majority share in Vistara and AirAsia India. Recently, Tata Sons declared that it would merge Air India with Vistara. The merger would make Air India the country’s largest international and second-largest local carrier with a fleet of 218 aircraft.
The report added that Tata Group may also sign a deal with Airbus to fulfill orders from Air India. But it first approached Boeing over Airbus as the manufacturer promised to deliver 50 737 Max planes as soon as early next year. The French company could not promise immediate deliveries of A320 Neo until 2025, the report added.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Air India was on the verge to finalise a mega order worth $50 billion between Airbus and Boeing, which included up to 300 narrowbody and 70 widebody jets.
SOURCE – businesstoday.in / click to read news at the source
