Air India places order to purchase 100 more Airbus aircraft

The airline also announced it has tied up with Airbus for component and maintenance support for its A350 fleet

Private carrier Air India on Monday announced placing an order to purchase 100 more Airbus aircraft, comprising 10 wide-body A350 and 90 narrow-body A320 family aircraft including A321neo.

These 100 new aircraft are in addition to the orders of 470 aircraft that Air India had placed with Airbus and Boeing last year. (Air India | Facebook)

This latest order takes the total number of aircraft that Air India ordered with Airbus in 2023 from 250 aircraft to 350. It includes 10 widebody A350 and 90 narrowbody A320 family aircraft, including A321neo.

“With India’s passenger growth outpacing the rest of the world, its significantly improving infrastructure and an aspirational young population increasingly going global, we see a clear case for Air India to expand its future fleet beyond the firm orders of the 470 aircraft placed last year. These additional 100 Airbus aircraft will help to position Air India on the path to greater growth and contribute to our mission of building Air India into a world-class airline that connects India to every corner of the world”, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and Air India said.

The airline also announced it has selected Airbus’ Flight Hour Services-Component (FHS-C) to support the maintenance requirements of its A350 fleet.

“The new materials and maintenance contract will help Air India to optimize the reliability and performance of its A350 fleet, with comprehensive engineering services and integrated component services including on-site stock at Delhi provided by Airbus,” the airline’s statement read.

Guillaume Faury, chief executive officer of Airbus said, “Having personally witnessed the formidable growth of the Indian aviation sector in recent months, I am glad to see Air India renew its trust in Airbus with this additional order for both our A320 Family and A350 aircraft. Through this continued partnership, we are committed to supporting the success of Air India’s “Vihaan.AI” transformation plan under Tata’s vision and leadership.”

The airline has ordered 100 more aircraft from Airbus, making a total of 344 new planes on the way.

So far, the airline has received six A350s. In 2023, it also ordered 220 planes from Boeing, with 185 still to be delivered.