Air India to expand long-haul fleet
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Air India is planning to expand its fleet of long-haul aircraft in an effort to enhance its international route network, the Indian Express reports.
The national carrier currently operates 41 twin-aisle aircraft – 15 Boeing 777s, 21 B787 Dreamliners and five B747-400s. But the newspaper reported “sources” as saying that Air India is planning to add more Boeing long-haul jets in future.
These will be used to launch new routes to destinations including Washington DC and Houston, as well as others in the US, Scandinavia and Africa.
“We have not added too many wide-body planes in the fleet in the last couple of years, except the induction of Dreamliners from the 2005 order. We are now considering expanding this fleet as well by adding some long-range Boeing aircraft going forward,” the sources said.
Air India currently has outstanding orders for three more B777s and six B787s, all of which are expected to be delivered by March 2018. It will also introduce another 30 single-aisle Airbus A320 aircraft.
According to Airbus forecasts, Indian airlines are expected to need 380 new twin-aisle aircraft over the next 20 years, although Boeing’s forecast is slightly lower.
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