![]() It will also put Air India on a stronger footing to compete with domestic rival IndiGo (INGL.NS), which has a majority share of the Indian market and a strong position in regional flights. It reflects a strategy to recapture a solid share of trips between India's diaspora and cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai that are currently dominated by foreign rivals such as Emirates. The record order aims to put Air India in the league of large global airlines and make it an influential customer for planemakers and suppliers at a time when its home market is seeing a strong post-COVID-19 travel surge. "Besides this deal being of unprecedented size, it was also incredibly complex," Wilson said in a note to employees.Īir India, with its maharajah mascot, was once known for its lavishly decorated planes and stellar service but its reputation declined in the mid-2000s as financial troubles mounted. The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin.It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo. It has been selected to power 210 Airbus narrowbody jets ahead of rival Pratt & Whitney (RTX.N), while bigger jets will be powered by GE or Britain's Rolls-Royce (RR.L).īritish Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the deal would create new jobs. The deal includes a major win for engine maker CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric (GE.N) and France's Safran (SAF.PA). It is the biggest commercial plane ever to take off and fly powered by. "India is also sending a strong political signal that it wants to remain attached to the West at a time when it has appeared ambiguous on Russian sanctions," said Grabowski, a former banker with extensive experience of international deals. At a large airfield surrounded by farmland in central Washington State, an electric aeroplane recently made history. "It is important for the industry because given the recent turbulence in the China market, the alternative growth market is India," said independent aviation adviser Bertrand Grabowski. The first aircraft to arrive will be 25 brand-new Boeing 737 MAX planes and six Airbus A350s in the second half of 2023, with deliveries really ramping up in 2025 and beyond.Įven after significant expected discounts, the deal is worth tens of billions of dollars at a volatile time for plane giants whose jets are again in demand after the pandemic, but who face mounting industrial and environmental pressures. ![]() INDIA'S GROWING INFLUENCEĪir India's order tops American Airlines' (AAL.O) combined deal for 460 Airbus and Boeing planes more than a decade ago. Industry sources say India has repeatedly lobbied for Airbus to add a final assembly line in the country, matching a plant in northern China, but that the planemaker has so far rejected the idea on financial and industrial grounds. The aviation deal is expected to have industrial spin-offs, with Macron pledging co-operation in other sectors.Ĭhandrasekaran said Airbus and Tata were working on bigger partnerships, including an ambition "to bring in commercial aircraft manufacturing at some point in time in the future". That said, had Airbus made a plane like the A380 today, but with the economics of a smaller Boeing 777 or Airbus A350, then perhaps the A380 would be hailed as a success story."This achievement shows that Airbus and all its French partners are fully dedicated to develop new areas of dedication with India," Macron said. The A380 was a fantastic and visionary aircraft but built a little too late. Passengers still want to fly vast distances, but newer aircraft designs are focusing on skipping the hubs and flying direct to destinations with a smaller passenger load. ![]() The industry has since moved away from the hub to hub model popularised by Emirates and fueled by the Airbus A380. It is even questionable if a second-hand market even exists for the A380, as leasing agents had already scrapped recently retired units when they were unable to find new customers for the type. Plus, it could only be used on select routes that had the demand, or could even take the oversized plane! The aircraft was too expensive to operate unless fully loaded, and it was hard to sell so many seats at once. Was this aircraft the right choice for Airbus to build? We only need to look at the fact that Airbus has shut down the production line for the A380 due to a lack of popularity. ![]()
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