Air India’s order of 100 more Airbus planes set to boost alliance with SIA: analysts
The order comes as India is expected to become among the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, according to a top IATA official
The latest order – comprising 10 widebody A350 jets and 90 narrowbody A320-family aircraft – is in line with Air India’s plans to improve its market position after decades of state control, according to analysts.
It came after last month’s merger between Air India and Vistara, the Tata-SIA joint venture, under which the Singapore carrier has a 25.1 per cent stake in the merged entity.
The merger followed the consolidation of other Tata Group airlines, including between low-cost carriers Air India Express and AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India.
Mayur Patel, Asia head at OAG Aviation, a global travel data provider, said the new order “allows them [Air India] to scale some of its domestic capacity at airports such as Noida and Navi Mumbai along with providing further growth for domestic and Southeast Asia and Middle East routes.” He was referring to the Noida airport near Delhi and the Navi Mumbai airport, both of which are under development.
