The Hindu Business Line : Indian finalises lease of two A-330s

The Airbus A-330 aircraft would seat more than 270 in both the economy and business class, thereby making it the largest aircraft present in the fleet.

AN UNDATED company photo of an Airbus A330 aircraft.

New Delhi , Aug. 20

Indian could soon be winging its way to London, more cities in the Far East and even Australia.

The State-owned airlines has finalised an agreement for lease of two Airbus A-330 aircraft that will be capable of operating flights from India to destinations in Europe, Far East and beyond.

Expansion of services

"The two aircraft being leased from a French company are five years old and would be utilised to operate flights to international destinations in Europe and expand our services to existing and new destinations in the Far East. The routes on which the aircraft are to be deployed are yet to be firmed up," official sources told Business Line.

The Government has already designated Indian to operate flights to Australia, the UK and the US. Besides, the airline has received permission to commence operations to the UK.

However, the lack of proper equipment capable of flying non-stop between India and Europe has hampered the efforts of the airline to start regular flights there.

At present, Indian operates regular flights to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and several cities in the Gulf region mostly utilising the 145-seater Airbus A-320 aircraft. The Airbus A-330 aircraft being leased by Indian would be able to seat more than 270 passengers in both economy and business class, thereby making it the largest aircraft present in the airline fleet.

The aircraft is equipped with multi-channel audio and video systems as well as other equipment that would show the route that the flight is taking.

The airline was looking at Airbus A 310-300, A-330 and A-340, apart from Boeing 767 Extended Range and B-777, before shortlisting the A-330.

Currently, the only Indian carrier operating the Airbus A-330 is Jet Airways that is utilising the aircraft to operate the Amritsar-London flight.