The Hindu : National : IA to lease 12 wide-bodied aircraft

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

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National

IA to lease 12 wide-bodied aircraft

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 16. The Indian Airlines Board today approved the dry leasing of 12 wide-bodied aircraft for its international operations. With the opening up of international connectivity by the Government, IA is hard pressed to augment its fleet strength.

An in-house committee of the airline had identified certain international routes, including some operated currently on the IA network, as being suitable for wide-bodied aircraft operations. After examining the preparedness, it recommended that 12 aircraft be inducted on a dry lease.

The Board accepted the proposal and IA will approach the market for leasing 12 aircraft, sufficient for its operations proposed for the winter of 2005 and the summer of 2006. In view of the current position of the leasing market, IA will be looking at a variety of wide-bodied aircraft options.

Increased seats

The airline recently got increased weekly seat allotment from the Civil Aviation Ministry for flights to Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur during the 2005 summer schedule, beginning April. The Government also opened air routes to Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom for the two eligible private carriers — Jet Airways and Air Sahara. With the competition poised to hot up on international routes, IA will be ill-equipped to compete with private carriers and international operators if it cannot augment its fleet, which also has to serve the Gulf region.

IA sources said it could look at Boeing-767 and B-777 and Airbus A-330 and A-340 for its international operations but as things stood, it was unlikely to get leased aircraft before October.

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