Air India Orders 100 Aircraft From Airbus To Expand Fleet

In February 2023, Air India placed the world’s second-largest aircraft order, consisting of 250 planes from Airbus and 220 from Boeing

 Air India, operated by the Tata Group, announced an additional order for 100 aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus on Monday. This includes 90 narrow-body A320 family planes and 10 wide-body A350 aircraft, complementing the 470-plane order the group made last year.

In February 2023, Air India placed the world’s second-largest aircraft order, consisting of 250 planes from Airbus and 220 from Boeing. At that time, the airline's Chief Commercial and Transformation Officer, Nipun Aggarwal, revealed that the airline had secured options for 370 more aircraft, potentially bringing the total order to 840 planes—470 firm orders and 370 options.

The airline has now exercised a portion of its Airbus options. Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons and Air India, commented, “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,” he added. 

The Air India Group said in an official statement, "With the order for 100 additional aircraft, Air India currently has a total of 344 new aircraft incoming from Airbus, having received six A350s so far. Air India in 2023 had also placed orders for 220 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft with Boeing, of which 185 aircraft remain to be delivered."

Air India, the full-service carrier, and its low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, currently operate fleets of approximately 210 and 90 aircraft, respectively. Last month, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson told reporters that the total fleet size of the Air India Group is projected to grow from 300 to around 400 aircraft by 2027.

In the statement, the airline announced that it has signed a "Flight Hour Services-Component" contract with Airbus, which will provide on-site stock in Delhi to support the maintenance needs of its expanding fleet of A350 aircraft.