In mid-2014, Air India signed a lease agreement for five A320 aircraft with Chinese lessor China Aviation Leasing Group Holdings. “Air India already has two of these new aircraft, and the other three are on their way. It is very likely that the other three aircraft will be received by mid-2016,” the official said. The airline had previously ordered a fleet of 25 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with 18 clean aircraft and seven leased. While AIE returned all leased aircraft to lessors for a period of time at the end of the lease period, AIE lost one aircraft in the Mangalore crash in 2010, reducing the number of aircraft in the fleet to 17. Air India has taken over a total of 14 Boeing 747-200s, making it the most popular variant of its jumbojet fleet. The company also held three 747-300s, including the lease of two of the unique -300M or combined aircraft (which have cargo and passengers on the main deck). Air-India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a British aircraft broker to lease two of its classic Boeing 747s. The funds in the agreement will help strengthen the Airbus A310 fleet.
The government`s decision to ban scheduled commercial international flights en bloc is expected to seriously hurt national airline Air India, which generates nearly 60 to 70 percent of its revenue from international flights. This has led Air India to take a number of measures to alleviate the stress of the Covid 19 crisis, including the start of renegotiating leases, renegotiating hotel contracts, lowering wages, and an aggressive move to increase cargo sales at a time when passenger load is minimal. State-owned Air India, which last year signed its first lease agreement to replace its old fleet, has received its first two leased aircraft — A320s, Civil Aviation Ministry officials said. According to you, this is the beginning of the process of exchanging the old fleet. In 1995, the airline signed a two-year contract with Caribjet, which was to last until December 1997. As the process of exchanging the remaining three aircraft continues, Air India is in talks with Kuwaiti lenders to lease the remaining 14 aircraft. While most airlines leave for three-year leases, Air India`s 12-year leasing contract is expected to help the company. The rest of the planes are at least two years away.
