new Delhi, May 8: Air India plans to sell five of its eight Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, bought 3-5 years back.
The state-run carrier had tried to sell these planes earlier, too, but could not find buyers at the terms it had set.
“Air India is
planning to sell its B777-200LR (long range) aircraft. Air India had
inducted eight such aircraft between 2007 and 2010,” minister of state
for civil aviation K.C. Venugopal said. He added that the aircraft were
inducted to cater to long-range, non-stop operations between India and
the US.
“Because of a
steep increase in fuel prices, some of the ultra long operations such as
Bangalore to San Francisco never commenced. The market dynamics changed
significantly because of the global recession. It was found that the
yield from non-stop routes of B777-200LR was poor,” he said.
Officials said
globally these aircraft had 290-300 seats, but the planes with Air India
were 238-seaters. “This is making them less viable to probable bidders.
We had then opted for such a seat configuration as we wanted to offer
better or premium services on long-haul flights,” an official said.
In January last
year, Air India had offered five B777-200 LR planes on dry lease for six
to 10 years. The US Exim Bank had extended a loan guarantee for these
aircraft, which were being offered on sub lease, but the national
carrier did not find any takers.
Kushank
PGDM 2nd
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