The National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL), will invite global bids for leasing out two of its A310-300 freighters, a senior NACIL official said.
“We will soon put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to lease out two of our A310-300 cargo aircraft,” the official said in Mumbai on Thursday.
NACIL is the holding company of national air-carrier Air India.
Air India had earlier planned to deploy these configured aircraft in its cargo service. However, as it could not find a profitable route for these freighters, it decided to lease them out.
“The decision to lease them out follows the lack of a profitable route where they could be deployed,” he said.
The company is, however, yet to decide on their pricing, the official said. “The per-hour flying cost of these aircraft is quite high,” he added.
These aircraft were earlier used in its passenger service operations.
Of the four A310-300 aircraft which were sent to Dresden (Germany) last year to configure them into freighters, Air India has already taken delivery of three, while the fourth and last one is expected to join the fleet by this month-end.
Air India converted these aircraft at a cost of USD 7 million each, the official said.
The conversion of a few passenger aircraft to freighters had begun in January 2007 as a part of NACIL’s plan to expand its cargo operations.
It has also created a separate special business unit, Air India Cargo, to enable greater operational efficiencies and earn higher revenues.