NEW DELHI: Air India, which is already buying new planes to spruce up its fleet, plans to order another 60 aircraft to meet rising demand for air travel amid India's rapidly expanding economy.
The carrier, which ordered 68 aircraft from Boeing last year, will prepare a proposal for the new purchases in two weeks, the Indian aviation minister, Praful Patel, said in New Delhi on Saturday. The state-run airline, which is the biggest Indian international carrier, will evaluate aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus, he said.
The company, set to be merged with Indian Airlines, faces growing competition from Jet Airways and Lufthansa.
"Looking at the demand and passenger growth, the number of new orders could be about 60," the chairman of Air India, V. Thulasidas, said Saturday at an event in New Delhi to showcase the new planes bought by the two carriers. "In the next two to three years, we should be replacing all the old aircraft with new ones."
Air India will also consider buying the Airbus A380 superjumbo, Patel said at the event.
"We will revisit the aircraft acquisition process of Air India within a fortnight," Patel said. "After all these new aircraft are inducted and the old ones phased out, Air India will need more aircraft."
Air India may sell shares next year to partly fund the purchase of new planes, Patel said in May. Air India and Indian Airlines were planning to go for separate initial public offerings earlier, but their plans were delayed by the merger.
Purchase of the new aircraft may help Air India to raise its profit, which slid to 149.4 million rupees, or $3.7 million, in the year ended March 31, 2006, from 963.6 million a year earlier.
Air India and Indian Airlines together have more than 110 planes and have ordered an additional 111 from Boeing and Airbus.
Air India ordered 50 Boeing planes for itself and 18 for its low-fare unit, Air India Express, in January 2006, to start flights to the United States and Canada. Indian Airlines ordered 43 planes from Airbus to introduce more services and win domestic market share.
Air India and Indian Airlines have been unable to tap India's expanding civil aviation market because of a shortage of aircraft, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the function.
"With the acquisition of these aircraft, our national carriers will be better placed to take on competition at home and abroad," Singh said.
Air travel in India will grow by an average of 7.7 percent annually through 2025, compared with 7.2 percent growth for China and 4.8 percent globally, according to a December projection by Airbus.
The number of passengers rose 24 percent to 73.4 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
The number probably grew to 86.8 million, including 60.9 million domestic passengers, in the 12 months that ended March 31 this year, the ministry said.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Airlines Sites In India for booking your air tickets online
Indian aviation services providers listing, choose and book your air tickets and other services online. here are the india airlines site listing...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
