IA to buy 3 A300s from A-I for Rs 33 crore

Rupali Mukherjee

New Delhi, Jan 2: Air-India and Indian Airlines have agreed on the sale of three Airbus A300s, owned by the flag carrier, for $7 million (Rs 33 crore). IA has offered $7 million for the three aircraft which are proposed to be delivered to it by April after Haj is completed.

A-I had sought $3 million per aircraft but later agreed to $7 million which the domestic carrier had offered, sources said, adding there was an “in principle” approval between the two over the sale.

IA is keen to acquire A300s as it already has a fleet of 11 Airbus A300s for which its pilots and engineers are well-trained. Two of its existing A300s is to be phased out, while one aircraft has been temporarily grounded for maintenance. An A300 is economical for IA as it has a better seating capacity of 200 plus passengers and can be used for cargo also, according to sources. These can be deployed on trunk routes also.

As the aviation sector was reeling under recession, A-I might not have been able to sell the planes for more than $7 million and thus agreed on the price after negotiations, pointed out sources. Last year there were talks between the two carriers for the sale of these planes but the deal did not materialise due to differences over pricing. A-I was expecting a higher price than what IA had offered. Then the civil aviation ministry had intervened and pegged the price at $9 million for the three planes.

Early last, year A-I had floated a global tender for these A300s, but did not get an attractive price, after which IA had made an offer to buy. IA had offered a price of around $2 million per aircraft, which was better than the market price of $1.2 million for a plane. As the pricing issue could not be sorted out, the ministry had to step in.

Meanwhile, a technical committee of IA is examining the bids submitted by aircraft and engine manufacturers for its Rs 9,000-crore acquisition plan. The board has already cleared the plan.