NEW DELHI: Tata Group-owned Air India has leased a fleet of six Airbus A320 neo aircraft from CDB Aviation, a wholly-owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co Limited.
The aircraft will be delivered in the second half of 2023.
“Our commercial team is delighted to have worked closely with Air India to help solve their fleet requirements with these new Airbus narrowbody aircraft from our order book,” said Ryan Barrett, CDB Aviation’s Head of Asia Pacific.
He added, “These fuel-efficient, new-generation aircraft are well-suited to support Air India’s fleet revitalisation initiatives, positioning the airline for sustained growth and profitability.’’ CDB Aviation is one of the first aircraft leasing companies to provide Air India additional A320neo aircraft under the latter’s recently announced revival plan ‘Vihaan.AI’. Air India is eyeing a 30% share in the domestic market and international market (to and from India) over the next five year.
Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson recently said the airline will triple its fleet in the next five years. Last month, he had said that they would be inducting 5 wide-body Boeing and 25 Airbus narrow-body planes over the next 15 months.
On the leasing of six A320 neo, Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial officer of Air India, said: “This is an important agreement, which will help us to strengthen our fleet with state-of-the-art aircraft. This will boost our connectivity, especially on the short and medium-haul routes, and is an important step ahead in our transformation journey.”