Air India will buy over 450 planes from Airbus and Boeing
Tata group's Air India has signed multi-billion dollar deals with France's Airbus and American plane-maker Boeing to buy 470 passenger aircraft in the largest shopping event in commercial aviation history.
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The price for the entire 470-aircraft deal would be between $70 and $80 billion, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV.
Air India, which Tata group bought from the government in October 2021, will buy 250 aircraft from Airbus and 220 from Boeing.
"I am proud to announce today the purchase of over 200 American-made aircraft through a historic agreement between Air India and Boeing. This purchase will support over one million American jobs across 44 states, and many will not require a four-year college degree," US President Joe Biden said in a statement today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Biden spoke over the landmark agreement between Air India and Boeing. Both welcomed the deal as a "shining example of mutually beneficial cooperation". There is an option for Air India to buy 70 more aircraft from Boeing.
Tata group's 250-plane deal with Airbus is for 40 A350 wide-body long-range aircraft and 210 narrow-body ones, believed to be variants of the A320neo family of jetliners.
"It is a historic moment for Airbus to help script Air India's revival," Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury said in a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ratan Tata, French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders.
"This contract is a milestone in the friendly relations between India and France," said Mr Macron at the conference, where Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Jyotiraditya Scindia and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran also participated.
The A350 family has two versions - the A350-900, and the longer fuselage A350-1000. Airbus' narrow-body aircraft include the A320 and A220 family of planes. Many airlines in India already fly the A320 family.
The shopping list given to the American company comprises 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777-9s wide-body aircraft, and 190 Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle aircraft.
Air India is also likely to revamp its livery. Last month, it committed $400 million to refurbish the interiors of its entire wide-body fleet. Air India said these will incorporate the "latest generation seats and best-in-class inflight entertainment systems."
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