Mumbai, June 18 : Air-India is to open financial bids for lease of Airbus and Boeing aircraft on Monday.The airline had floated a global tender last month, seeking three to five Airbus A310 and one or two Boeing 747-300 aircraft on dry lease (without cockpit crew) for a three-year period. It had also floated a separate tender for a Boeing 747-400.``At least five international leasing companies/airlines have put in their bids offering aircraft on lease. We will go by the lowest tender, evaluate and go back to the board (of directors) for clearance,'' an AI official said. The government has already given a green signal for taking on dry lease up to 10 aircraft.
According to AI sources, ``At least one company which has bid for A310 aircraft and another for the Boeing 747-300 meets our criteria and we will know tomorrow.''
This is for the first time that the airline has gone in for a major expansion after five years, that too with a leased aircraft to offer additional capacity on several routes, including the Gulf sector from November onwards and to Europe later. Sources said the plan is to get the leased Airbus aircraft in a phased manner to enable the airline to get its pilots ready for operating the aircraft. ``We aim to rationalise our fleet and intend to sell off older Boeing 747-200 and Airbus A300," the official said.
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