New Delhi: Tata-owned Air India announced on Monday (Dec 9) that it has placed an order for 100 additional Airbus aircraft. The new order includes 10 widebody A350 jets and 90 narrowbody A320 family aircraft.

This order comes on top of the airline's historic purchase of 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing last year.

With this latest addition, Air India's total Airbus orders for 2023 now stand at 350 aircraft, comprising 40 A350s and 310 A320 family aircrafts.

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, of Tata Sons and Air India, said, "With India's passenger growth outpacing the rest of the world, its significantly improving infrastructure and an aspirational young population increasingly going global, we see a clear case for Air India to expand its future fleet beyond the firm orders of the 470 aircraft placed last year."

After the order, Air India has a total of 344 new aircraft incoming from Airbus, having received six A350s so far. The company in 2023 had also placed orders for 220 widebody and narrowbody aircraft with Boeing, of which 185 aircraft remain to be delivered.

"These additional 100 Airbus aircraft will help to position Air India on the path to greater growth and contribute to our mission of building Air India a world-class airline that connects India to every corner of the world," Chandrasekaran added.

The airline also announced the selection of Airbus' Flight Hour Services-Component (FHS-C) to support the maintenance requirements of its growing A350 fleet.

The new maintenance and materials contract will help the airline optimise the reliability and performance of its A350 fleet, with engineering services and integrated component services including on-site stock at Delhi provided by Airbus.

Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, said, "Having personally witnessed the formidable growth of the Indian aviation sector in recent months, I am glad to see Air India renew its trust in Airbus with this additional order for both our A320 Family and A350 aircraft."

"Through this continued partnership, we are committed to supporting the success of Air India's "Vihaan.AI" transformation plan under Tata's vision and leadership," the Faury added.

Air India is the first Indian airline to operate the Airbus A350, which is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. It delivers fuel-efficiency, passenger comfort, and long-range capabilities.

-B