Air India plans to convert its Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft to freighters because it will no longer have a need for these if it adds other large widebodies.
A spokesman for the airline in Mumbai says in the coming years Air India will convert the 747-400s into freighters.
“We will do some of the conversions here in India,” he adds.
According to Flight’s ACAS database Air India’s 747-400 passenger fleet totals eight aircraft, half of which it owns.
Air India wants to withdraw the 747-400s from passenger services because it plans to get other passenger aircraft.
The spokesman says the carrier has established a committee to evaluate the Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380 and the carrier aims to place an order within the next six months.
It needs to place an order soon so that it can secure slots that ensure it starts receiving the aircraft in 2011 or 2012, he adds.
Air India last year ordered 68 Boeing aircraft – a mix of 777s, 787s and 737-800s - but the spokesman says the last of these are to be delivered in 2011 so it has no aircraft on order beyond that.
India’s civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, last month told ATI’s sister publication Airline Business that Air India plans to place an order in mid-2008 for more narrowbodies and widebodies.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
