IA to lease 11 planes

New Delhi: Soon after aviation minister Praful Patel said he would not take poor performance from state-owned carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines lightly, Indian Airlines on Monday announced a major expansion to prevent any further slide in market share. It has decided to lease five Airbus aircraft and six regional jets for domestic and regional operations to beef up operations.
The airline is planning to take five Airbus A-320s on lease for a period of three to five years. The aircraft will be partly deployed on the Gulf sector and partly on the routes where they have not been able to deploy sufficient capacity. The A320 aircraft will be fitted with the CFM engines, which is the engine choice for the 43 Airbus aircraft on order. Also, the international network will be further strengthened when the two already leased wide body A330s arrive in June and October next year.
The airline also plans to lease 50 to 70 seater CRJ aircraft for the smaller sectors. Tenders will be invited shortly.
24/10/06 Financial Express

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