The Hindu Business Line : Air India to finalise fleet expansion soon

As per the proposal, Air India would purchase 68 aircraft at a cost of Rs 30,000 crore to fly to new destinations and also to cater to the flights of Air India Express to the Gulf and South-East Asian destinations, Mr Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, told newspersons.

The first aircraft is expected to join the airline's fleet by the middle of 2006.

The fleet expansion programme is the biggest ever in the history of Air India and in the civil aviation sector of the country.

Mr Thulasidas said that it would take at least 4-5 years after the contract is signed to get all the aircraft in the fleet.

Of the 68 aircraft, 18 would be for Air India Express, a fully owned subsidiary of Air India, which would start operations to the Gulf from April 29.

The remaining would be inducted in Air India.

Mr Thulasidas also said that with the arrival of the new aircraft, the national carrier and its new subsidiary would be able to expand its operations further to the Gulf countries, except Saudi Arabia, and to various destinations in the South-East Asian region.

Air India Express, the low-cost airline being floated under Air India Charters, will commence operations with the inaugural flight from Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Abu Dhabi on April 29.

Along with this flight, Air India Express would operate flights from Nedumbassery, Karipur, Mumbai and Delhi airports on the same day to Dubai, Muscat and other destinations, said Mr Thulasidas.

The flights would be operated using Boeing 737-800 aircraft, each of which can accommodate 180 passengers.

In the first phase, Air India Express will operate 43 flights a week to various destinations in the Gulf, of which 31 will be from the three airports in Kerala.

The total number of flights from the State to the Gulf will go up from 56 currently to 63 with the introduction of the Air India Express flights.

Mr Thulasidas said that the one-way fare in the Thiruvananthapuram-Dubai/Abu Dhabi sector would start from Rs 3,250.

The fares would not be fixed and would vary from day to day from seat to seat.

As the date of the departure approaches, the discount offered will also come down. Besides, a third of the 180 seats would be available for the low fares, he added.

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