Air India completes acquisition of its first A350 aircraft through GIFT City

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).

In a release, the airline said 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.

Tata Group-owned Air India, which has embarked on an ambitious transformation plan, expects the first A350-900 aircraft to arrive in India by the end of this year.

According to the release, the airline has successfully acquired India's first Airbus A350-900 aircraft through a finance lease transaction with HSBC.

"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.

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Executive Director Dipesh Shah said it has been working with the stakeholders to develop regulatory enablers for aircraft leasing and financing.

"The steps taken by Air India by establishing a finance company for the purpose of aircraft leasing and financing at IFSC will go a long way in developing IFSC as a preferred destination for aircraft leasing and financing in India as well as globally," he added.

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.

Air India signed purchase agreements to acquire these aircraft with Airbus and Boeing in June this year.

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.

Vistara is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, which holds a 49 per cent stake in the carrier.