Winglets747
2007-09-30, 08:30 PM
Air India is certainly moving quickly to place a VLA order before the year is over, a further testament to the growth of the Indian market. This will be very exciting for whoever wins it, although I think AI will select the 747-8.
NEW DELHI: After reviewing future traffic growth, Air India has decided to order the biggest passenger aircraft that are capable of flying over 550 travellers on the busiest global routes. The two planes that fit into this category are the A-380 and the Boeing 747-800.
"We are are going to set up a panel to examine which plane will be best suited for us," Air India chairman and managing director V Thulasidas said. The merged AI-Indian Airlines entity is going to get 111 new planes in the next four years but most of them would be used to replace old and leased aircraft.
Aviation minister Praful Patel has asked AI to firm up its additional requirement at the earliest as deliveries of orders placed even today won’t start before five years.
"Supposing they send the requirement by November, we can get the clearance by December," the aviation minister had said recently.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Busi ... 417433.cms (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/Billion_dollar_question_Will_AI_buy_A-380_or_Boeing_747-800/articleshow/2417433.cms)
NEW DELHI: After reviewing future traffic growth, Air India has decided to order the biggest passenger aircraft that are capable of flying over 550 travellers on the busiest global routes. The two planes that fit into this category are the A-380 and the Boeing 747-800.
"We are are going to set up a panel to examine which plane will be best suited for us," Air India chairman and managing director V Thulasidas said. The merged AI-Indian Airlines entity is going to get 111 new planes in the next four years but most of them would be used to replace old and leased aircraft.
Aviation minister Praful Patel has asked AI to firm up its additional requirement at the earliest as deliveries of orders placed even today won’t start before five years.
"Supposing they send the requirement by November, we can get the clearance by December," the aviation minister had said recently.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Busi ... 417433.cms (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/Billion_dollar_question_Will_AI_buy_A-380_or_Boeing_747-800/articleshow/2417433.cms)