NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India, the world’s fastest growing aviation market, has seen increased competition with a number of domestic and international carriers adding flights and destinations across the country.
Air India is close to placing landmark orders for as many as 500 jetliners that could be worth more than $100 billion at list prices from Airbus and Boeing as it carves out an ambitious renaissance under the Tata Group, Reuters reported over the weekend.
The orders are expected to include as many as 400 narrowbody jets and 100 or more widebodies, potentially including dozens of Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s and 777s.
The fleet expansion plans come days after Tata Group announced a merger of all its airlines, including full service carriers Air India and Vistara and budget airlines Air India Express and AirAsia India.
The combined entity has a current fleet of 220 aircraft, cementing Air India’s position as the country’s largest international carrier and second largest in the domestic market after leader IndiGo. The new planes are expected to help Air India take on IndiGo and win back international traffic from airlines like Emirates.
Here are the fleet sizes of the major Indian airlines and foreign carriers versus Air India’s.
AIR INDIA’S COMBINED NARROWBODY PLANES VS OTHER DOMESTIC CARRIERS
Airline Maker
Airbus Boeing
Model & No. Of Planes Model & No. Of
Planes
A319 A320 A321 B737
Air India 20 36 14
Vistara 40 6 5
Air India 24
Express
AirAsia 28
India
IndiGo 175 68
SpiceJet 59
GoFirst 57
AIR INDIA’S COMBINED WIDEBODIES VS OTHER INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS
Airline Maker
Airbus Boeing
Model & No. Of Planes Model & No. Of Planes
A330 A340 A350 A380 B777 B787 B747
Air India 17 27
Vistara 3
Emirates 118 134
Qatar 14 53 10 61 37
Airways
Singapore 61 17 31 15
Airlines
Lufthansa 25 34 17 14 27
Saudia 32 33 18
Etihad 5 4 19 39
Oman Air 7 9
Sri Lankan 12
Airways
Gulf Air 7
(Reporting by Aditi Shah in New Delhi, Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Mark Potter)