Air India is on the verge of placing a record-breaking order with Airbus and Boeing for up to 500 aircraft worth over $100 billion. This comes months after the Indian government’s airline was formally acquired by the Tata Group conglomerate in a $180 billion deal, according to a Reuters report..
In addition, Tata recently disclosed plans to integrate Air India with Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines that would give it a considerable footprint both domestically and abroad.
The significance of this acquisition:
The company now has access to almost 200 new aircrafts, thanks to the merger of Air India and Vistara, alongside Singapore Airlines joint venture, making it the second-largest domestic and international airline in the nation.
In addition to the Vistara deal, the potential acquisition appears to be an indication of the Tata group’s expansion to take over a sizable share of traffic flows to and from India, which are currently dominated by foreign airlines like Emirates. If the deal is signed, the purchase could take at least a decade to be delivered.
In a broader sense, if the acquisition of these extra 500 jets is completed, it will have a big economic impact on India, which is one of the world’s greatest markets for airlines.
Air India is the country’s largest international airline and the second-largest domestic airline after IndiGo.