Ian Sheppard/LONDON
Sahara India Airlines (SIAL) aims to implement a comprehensive expansion plan in 1998 despite the delay caused by the fall of the Indian Government in November.
The former Government had proposed new legislation which would have supported private domestic carriers . SIAL is preparing to place an order for six Boeing 737s and acquire up to five Aero International (Regional) ATR 42s to feed the carrier's hubs at Delhi and Mumbai.
SIAL chief manager Sanjay Bahadur says that negotiations with Boeing are "more or less finalised" for four 737-400s, with options for two Next Generation 737-800s, and adds that "-with present capacity, we do not need bigger aircraft", referring to the airline's original preference for six 737-800s. Bahadur says that the airline now expects to announce the order in January, and will take delivery of the first aircraft in October 1998.
A re-marketing source close to negotiations says that Sahara has shown only a "basic interest" in one secondhand ATR 42 it is offering, while it expects that the other four will be obtained through AI(R), which declines to comment "until something has been signed". SIAL is planning for two ATR 42s to join its fleet in April, followed by three in October.
Bahadur says that India's private domestic airlines are confident that whatever political party wins the Indian election in March, the new Government will bring in policies supporting domestic carriers.
SIAL now operates three 737-200s, a 737-300 and two 737-400s, and plans to expand its fleet to 14 aircraft and seven helicopters (Eurocopter Dauphins and Twin Squirrels) by the end of 1998. Bahadur says that two more 737-200s have been "acquired locally", and with one 737-400 will enable capacity to be "-doubled to 2.4 million passengers by the end of January 1998".
Source: Flight International
