A global tender for the sale of three Airbus A300s has been floated by Indian Airlines as plans to renew and expand its fleet gain pace.
The carrier plans to phase out all ten of its A300s within the next two or three years. The three aircraft now up for sale are more than 20 years old and cannot be operated in India under Directorate General of Civil Aviation guidelines.
As a temporary measure to maintain capacity, the airline has also issued a tender seeking to dry-lease three A300B4s for a minimum of one year, effective from October. The carrier is also looking for two A320s on the same basis, to supplement its existing 30 examples of the aircraft.
With the floating of the sale tenders for the A300s, Indian Airlines has publicly signalled plans to pursue its fleet-renewal programme.
According to deputy managing director P J Crasta, the replacement of the fleet will be top of the agenda. Of the 55 aircraft in the fleet, there are 22 due for replacement, Crasta adds. In addition, the airline needs a further 20 aircraft to expand its fleet by the year 2002. Crasta says that the it needs to have a fleet strength of 70-75 by 2002.
The carrier informed Airbus and Boeing in November 1996 of its intention to replace its ageing fleet of A300s and 15 Boeing 737s - the latter operated by its subsidiary, Alliance Air - and the two airframe manufacturers are now positioning themselves for a competition involving the A330 and A319/320 on one side and 777/737 on the other (Flight International, 11-17 December, 1996).
The airline still also has longstanding plans for an initial acquisition of six 50-seaters for Alliance Air. The Saab 2000, AI(R) ATR 42-500 and Dash 8-300 all remain in the race.
An evaluation of the contenders has been with the Indian Airlines board for several months, although a decision has been delayed while the airline reconstituted its board - a process which has only recently been completed.
Source: Flight International
