New Delhi:In a historic move, airline company Air India is likely to place an order worth tens of billions of dollars to buy as many as 500 jetliners from Airbus and Boeing, informed industry sources. The deal is a part of a revival of the airline company by its owner, the Tata Group Conglomerate.
According to the sources, the order will comprise around 400 narrow-body jets and 100 or more wide-body jets including Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s and 777s. The information was revealed on conditions of anonymity even as the billion-dollar deal has not been given a final touch. Authorities at Airbus and Boeing refused to comment, while the Tata Group also agreed to comment after considerable reluctance.
Also read:Vistara: A long-cherished Tata-SIA dream that turned into reality in 2015
The news comes days after the Tata group announced the merger of Vistara with Air India, a dream that materialized as Tata group had long wished to re-enter the aviation sector after Tata Airlines was renamed Air India, and nationalized thereafter.
Back in 1994, Tata group and Singapore Airlines (SIA) made efforts to set up a joint venture airline in India. Six years later, they again tried to enter the country's aviation market, this time by teaming up to acquire stakes in Air India. However, the two attempts did not take off. Finally, they realized their dream as Vistara took to the Indian skies in January 2015. Further six years down the line, the two companies officially declared a merger on November 29.
