NEW DELHI: Ending months of speculation,  Tata Group-owned Air India has revealed that it has placed the largest order ever for passenger planes from Airbus of France and Boeing of the United States.

The deal, totaling 470 aircraft, includes 210 Airbus A320/321 Neo, 40 Airbus 350, 20 Boeing 787, 10 Boeing 777-9, and 190 Boeing 737 MAX single-aisle aircraft that are new or next-generation.

While the global aviation industry recovers from the slowdown brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical unrest following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, this is also the first significant aircraft order made by a global carrier. Widebody aircraft like the Airbus 350 and Boeing 777-9 will probably be used on ultra-long-haul flights to reach Australia and the US, respectively.

While declining to put a number on the total cost of the deal, it said that the planes had been acquired at a considerable discount from the sticker price after months of hard negotiations with Airbus and Boeing.  

As the European and American governments saw that India was quickly emerging as the new economic centre to rival China, geopolitics also played a role in the order, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
In the closing days before the agreement was signed, aggressive pricing and backdoor negotiations involving Paris and Washington were observed, according to insiders who spoke to BT.

In a press release, N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons and Air India, said, "This order is an essential step in realising Air India's vision to offer a world-class offering serving international travellers with an Indian heart, as described in its Vihaan.AI transformation plan. The airline's fleet and onboard amenities will be updated with these new aircraft, which will also significantly widen its global network.

The first of the new aircraft is anticipated to be delivered to Air India by the end of this year, with the majority of the deliveries set to begin in mid-2025.

The deal's discussion of the aircraft's power sources is another intriguing element. While the B777/787s will use engines from the US-based GE Aerospace and all single-aisle aircraft will be fitted with CFM engines, a 50:50 partnership between Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aviation, the A350 will use engines from the UK's Rolls-Royce.
An aviation buff and a certified pilot,JRD Tata founded Air India in 1932. The firm was nationalised by the Indian government in 1953; however, Tata remained on the board of directors until his ouster by the Janta Party administration led by Morarji Desai in February 1978.

In what many pundits and experts saw to as a watershed point in the government's ambitions to relinquish its ownership in publicly traded enterprises, Air India rejoined Tata in January 2022.

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