01.06.2023 - 05:16 UTC
Air India (AI, Mumbai International) is set to start taking deliveries from its record-breaking order for 470 aircraft later this year, with the first B737 MAX due to arrive in July or August 2023, followed by the first A350 in October or November 2023, Chief Executive Campbell Wilson told The Hindu Group media huddle.
"The bulk of them will start [delivering] from 2025. There are twenty-five A320/1neo coming this year. We wanted to be able to use these aircraft to expand quickly to improve the onboard product and buy some time until we could start taking deliveries reserved for the 470 new aircraft. By the latter half of 2024, a significant majority of our domestic full-service aircraft will be essentially brand new," Wilson explained.
The ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows that the airline's narrowbody fleet currently comprises twenty A319-100s, nine A320-200s, twenty-seven A320-200Ns, fourteen A321-200s, and four delivered-but-yet-to-be-inducted A321-200NX. Wilson said that at least nine A319s would be retired in the next 12 months, with "many" other...
03.05.2023 - 01:20 UTC
Indian conglomerate Tata Sons is again being touted in media reports as a possible investor in SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo International). The owner of Air India, Vistara, Air India Express, and AirAsia India has long been considered a possible investor in Sri Lanka's state-owner carrier.
SriLankan Airlines is one of several state-owned enterprises the government wants to privatise. However, it has become something of a political football with various agenda at play in Colombo. Speaking at a recent government committee on public enterprises hearing, SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashok Pathirage was supportive of privatisation as long as the right buyer was found, while CEO Richard Nuttall said he was focused on replacing aircraft and rebuilding the fleet ahead of any privatisation.
SriLankan Airlines presently flies to the Indian airports of Bangalore International, Chennai, Delhi International, Hyderabad International, Kochi International, Madurai, Mumbai International, Thiruvananthapuram, and Tiruchirapally from its Colombo hub. Based on seat availability data, SriLankan Airlines currently commands a 63.21% market...
27.04.2023 - 03:10 UTC
The CEO of Vistara (UK, Delhi International) has provided some clarity regarding fleet composition ahead of the airline's impending merger with Air India (AI, Mumbai International). That merger, planned to finalise in the first half of next year, will see the Vistara brand disappear. When that happens, CEO Vinod Kannan says Vistara will contribute 70 aircraft to the enlarged Air India entity.
Speaking to India's Zee News, Kannan says 10 of those aircraft will be A321neo, 53 will be A320-200Ns, and seven will be B787-9s. Kannan said Vistara is presently operating 54 aircraft, including forty two A320neo, six A321neo (including A321-200NX and A321-200NX(LR)s), two B737-800s, and four B787-9s.
Between now and the merger finalising, Vistara will acquire four A321neo, eleven A320neo, and three B787-9s, while the two surviving B737-800s will go back to their lessor, BOC Aviation. Kannan says among the Airbus narrowbodies, ten aircraft will be single class, while the remaining 53 narrowbodies will feature Vistara's typical three-cabin configuration. The B787-9s will be used on international sectors....
24.04.2023 - 01:41 UTC
Tata Sons has gone to the Competition Comission of India (CCI) to seek approval for the merger of Air India (AI, Mumbai International) and Vistara (UK, Delhi International). The CCI is expected to take around two months to make a decision, after which India's National Company Law Tribunal must green light the merger, while competition authorities in markets both airlines fly to, including Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the UAE, must also okay the proposal.
"The proposed transaction relates to consideration of the merger of Tata Singapore Airlines Limited (Vistara) into Air India and the acquisition of shares in the merged entity by Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) and Tata Sons," the notice filed with the CCI read. Singapore Airlines currently owns a 49% stake in Vistara. The merger will see the airline exchange that for a 25.1% shareholding in the enlarged Air India entity. Air India told the CCI that the merger will not adversely impact India's competitive environment given that they will have an expected 25.3% domestic market share...
