Air India likely to seal half of jumbo plane order with Boeing today

January 27 marks one year of Air India (AI) returning to the Tata fold

Air India is set to place an order for 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrow body planes along with 20 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777X today, a Reuters report quoted industry sources as saying.

The order comes on a day when Tata Group will mark the first anniversary of its acquisition of Air India from the government.

This is half of the order worth billions of dollars for around 495 jets, the report quoted industry sources as saying. This is part of an effort by the Tata group to make Air India more competitive in a tough aviation market.

The other half of the order, sources told Reuters, is expected to be completed over coming days. This includes around 235 Airbus single-aisle jets and about 40 Airbus A350 widebody aircraft.

The order comes at a time when the travel industry is seeing a strong post-COVID surge.

Flying high

Marking the first anniversary of the take over, Air India chief Campbell Wilson said that the progress has "nothing short of stunning".

He said that the airline has not shied away from ambitious moves like merging Air India Express with Air Asia, or Vistara with Air India, or kicking off the establishment of a new InfoTech Centre, or an Aviation Academy.

"And that's not to mention our much talked-about short- and-medium term fleet expansion," the CEO and MD of Air India said.

The airline is aiming to corner 30% of the domestic market share over the next five years as it competes with market leader IndiGo.  It has put back in service nearly 20 aircraft that had been grounded for years due to lack of parts and money. The airline has also said it will spend over $400 million to refurbish its entire legacy wide body fleet of 27 Boeing 787-8s and 13 777 aircraft.

It also wants to increase by "multiples" its current share of international travel, the airline's new chief executive Campbell Wilson previously said.