Air India is to receive ₹1,200 crore in October this year from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the transfer of two Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft for VVIP operations. These funds will be used to retire outstanding loans for these aircraft. Incidentally, the outstanding loans are to the tune of about ₹1,200 crore.

A senior Air India official confirmed to Business Line that the two aircraft will be transferred to the MoD on October 1, and that the funds should flow into Air India’s coffers almost immediately after the transfer takes place.

VVIP aircraft are primarily used by the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister on their trips out of Delhi, be it within India or while travelling abroad.

While the aircraft will be transferred to the VVIP squadron in October, it will take some more time before they can be used. This is because the aircraft will have to refitted to meet VVIP requirements, officials said.

Boeings deployed Meanwhile, the national carrier, which is to take delivery of its 21{+s}{+t} Boeing 787 aircraft at the end of the month, is planning to place two such aircraft exclusively for domestic operations.

The deployment of the Boeing 787 exclusively for domestic operations will help the airline offer more capacity in the domestic market. At the moment, Air India primarily uses the Airbus A320 series of aircraft to operate domestic flights. While the Boeing 787 seats 256 passengers, the Airbus aircraft seats anything between 122 to 172 passengers on each flight.

The deployment of two Boeing 787 aircraft exclusively for domestic operations could see the airline increase the number of cities to which it operates the Boeing 787 aircraft as Mumbai will also be added to the aircraft’s flight schedule. At the moment, the Boeing 787 aircraft only flies from Delhi to Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru.

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