Air India Creates HISTORY! Acquires India’s 1st Airbus A350-900 Aircraft Through GIFT City; Check Details

The aircraft features a long and spacious cabin to accommodate up to 366 passengers in a typical seating configuration. It can accommodate up to 440 passengers in a higher density configuration.

New Delhi: Air India on Friday said it has completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft by way of a finance lease transaction with HSBC through the GIFT City. This is also the first wide body aircraft to be leased through the GIFT City, the country’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). The airline further said that the transaction was facilitated by its wholly-owned subsidiary AI Fleet Services Ltd (AIFS) and is also the first financing transaction from the orders for 470 aircraft that were made earlier this year.

“This landmark transaction marks the beginning of our aircraft leasing business from GIFT IFSC, as AIFS will be the primary Air India Group entity for wide body aircraft financing, playing a pivotal role in the future aircraft financing strategy for us and our subsidiaries,” Air India’s Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer Nipun Aggarwal said.

The airline has ordered six A350-900 planes and five of them are scheduled for delivery through March 2024. Apart from these, the airline’s firm orders for 470 new aircraft include 34 A350-1000s, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777Xs, 140 A320 neos, 70 A321 neos and 190 Boeing 737MAXs.

Key Features Of Airbus A350-900 Aircraft

1. The aircraft features a long and spacious cabin to accommodate up to 366 passengers in a typical seating configuration. It can accommodate up to 440 passengers in a higher density configuration. The cabin offers a width of 5.61m and includes a typical three-class configuration.The economy class features 18in-wide seats.
2. It also offers e-mail and Wi-Fi connectivity for the passengers and is equipped with air-conditioning, lighting, acoustics, in-flight entertainment (IFE), galleys, electrics, washrooms, and water waste systems.
3. The aircraft can house 44 LD3 containers and 14 pallets under floor. The total bulk loading volume of the aircraft is 208.2m³.

Currently, Air India has a fleet of 116 planes, including 49 wide body aircraft.

The total includes 27 B787-8s, 14 B777-300s, 8 B777-200LRs, 14 A319s, 36 A320 neos, 13 A321 ceos and 4 A321 neos.

Meanwhile, Tata Group is in the process of consolidating its airline business as part of which AIX Connect is getting merged with Air India Express and Vistara will be merged with Air India.