Seven planes to go, Air India sees the American dream

National carriers Air India, which took the delivery of its twentieth Boeing 787-8 (Dreamliner) aircraft on Wednesday, is considering switching the rest of the Dreamliner order to the larger B787-9, which will allow it to expand its long-haul operations, a senior airline official told FE on Thursday.

The more efficient second-generation Dreamliner aircraft, which came into production in May 2014, consumes 40% less fuel than the Boeing 777 and brings down the cost per seat mile by 15% compared to the 787-8.

Compared to the older variant, B 787-8, the B787-9 variant, which is 20 feet (6.1 m) longer and has 40 more seats, can fly 450 nautical miles (830 km) farther.

The B787-9, which comes for about $257 million per aircraft, could bolster the airline’s international routes, especially the direct flights to North America.

“With the current fuel price level, it looks quite tempting to switch the remaining Dreamliner orders to the newer variant. The aircraft can help us expanding our operations to high-density international routes like Canada, the United States (USA) and Australia, among others,” the official said.

However, if Air India decides to go with the Boeing 787-9 variant instead of the older version, deliveries will begin only by 2017-18. If the airline decides to go ahead with the older variant, the 787-8, it will get the twenty-second aircraft by November, the twenty-third by December and the twenty-fourth by early 2016.

Air India is slated to take the delivery of its twenty-first aircraft by June. The airline had in 2006 placed an order for 27 Boeing 787-8 (Dreamliner) aircraft. It took the delivery of the first Dreamliner aircraft in 2012.

The fuel-efficient Dreamliner aircraft are key to the airline’s return to profitability, according to the government- approved Turn Around Plan (TAP).

“Air India will have to inform Boeing of its decision to upgrade the order by April so that we can work accordingly to deliver the aircraft,” Dinesh Keskar, Boeing’s senior vice president (sales), Asia Pacific & India, said.

Naresh Goyal-controlled Jet Airways, which had placed orders for 10 Boeing 787-8 aircraft in 2006, has also converted its initial orders for the B787-8 version to the B787-9 version.

“Since December, we have clocked more than 70% load factor on key international routes to US (New York) and Australia (Melbourne). Getting the right-sized aircraft will give us the maximum yield, which will in turn help us maximise revenues,” the official added.