Air India ramps up fleet expansion to IndiGo speed

A little more than two years since it placed the first of two mega-orders of passenger jets on Airbus SE and Boeing Co., India's second largest carrier Air India has started taking deliveries at the rate of one aircraft a week—catching up with market leader IndiGo's additions to its fleet.

- Abhishek Law & Dipali Banka

The Tata Group owned airline has 524 aircraft yet to be delivered, chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson said. “And all of those will come by around 2031. We will be taking an aircraft about once every six days (including AIX) for the next few years,” Wilson said at an event in New Delhi on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Aloke Singh, managing director and CEO of Air India Express, had told reporters at the Mumbai airport, “We are looking at about 20 to 24 aircraft in the next calendar year.”

In June 2023, Air India ordered 470 planes from Boeing and Airbus followed by an additional purchase of more than 100 jets last December, bringing the total such aircraft on order over 570.

IndiGo, too, had announced the purchase of 500 Airbus aircraft in June 2023 deliveries of which were scheduled to begin in 2030 and end in 2035.

IndiGo's order came on the back of an earlier order of 480 planes that runs until 2030 for the Gurgaon-based carrier.