Air India likely to order 35 more 787 Dreamliners

07 July 2007

"We are currently in the middle of a fleet restructuring plan which has identified the need for additional capacity," Thulasidas told the media on the sidelines of a Boeing media briefing on the 787 Dreamliner rollout programme.

"We believe, we will require additional 30-35 wide-bodied aircraft and some more single-aisle aircraft for the low-cost brand (Air India Express)."

According to Thulasidas, the additional numbers would be required by the carrier over the next three to five years, given the fast growth of the Indian aviation industry.

He also said that Air India was set to launch a number of flights to the US, with Mumbai-New York flights starting on August 1. "Following our open air skies agreement with the United States, we are now planning to start more flights to the US," he said.

"Following the Mumbai-JFK flights on August 1, we are planning to start flights on New Delhi-New York, Mumbai-Chicago and Bangalore-San Francisco routes, pending new aircraft deliveries.

India's domestic aviation market is growing by 40 per cent while international traffic in and out of India surged 15 per cent last year, making it one of the fastest aviation markets in the world.