Air India expansion plans

Boeing is poised to land an order from Air India for more wide-body aircraft as the airline moves to expand its long-haul network. Newspaper reports in India suggest an announcement is expected later this year.

An airline spokesman who declined to be named noted that the carrier had not added any wide-bodies for two years except for the introduction of the Dreamliner ordered in 2005, adding: "We are now considering expanding this fleet as well by adding some long-range Boeing aircraft going forward."

Air India's wide-body fleet is an all-Boeing line-up consisting of five 747-400s, three 777-200LRs, 12 777-300ERs and 21 787-8s. A further six B787-8s and three more B777-300ERs, are due for delivery by March 2018.

The airline uses the aircraft on high-density domestic routes as well as on flights to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US, Thailand, Singapore, China, the UK, Germany, Russia, Australia, France, Italy, and Austria. 

New destinations said to be in view include Houston International, Washington Dulles, Stockholm Arlanda and several African cities. www.airindia.in

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