Air India may buy 500 Boeing, Airbus jets in historic deal: Report

Indian carrier Air India is all set to place orders for almost 500 jets worth tens of billions of dollars from Boeing and Airbus as part of its mega revival plan under the Tata Group conglomerate which acquired it in January this year, Reuters has reported.

According to the report, the airliner is planning to order around 400 narrow-body jets and 10 wide-bodies planes including Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s and 777s, and is close to striking a deal for the same.

Airbus, Boeing and Tata Group are yet to comment on the report.

If the deal materialises, it would be the biggest by a single airline and is very likely to reach $100 billion, even surpassing an American Airlines order for 460 Airbus and Boeing jets over a decade ago.

The development also comes just a few weeks after Tata Group announced Vistara’s merger with Air India, as part of a joint venture with Singapore Airlines to create a bigger fleet of service carrier. Air India’s fleet grew to 218 aircraft, making it the country’s biggest international airlines.

Experts say the deal for 500 jets combined with the merger with Vistara would significantly help Tata Group to compete with foreign carriers like Emirates and woo back passengers to and from India.