The Indian joint venture carrier being established by Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons has confirmed that it has selected the Airbus A320 for its launch fleet.
A spokesman for Tata SIA Airlines tells Flightglobal Pro that the airline has lease agreements in place for 20 A320s. He would not name the lessors providing the aircraft or give any details on the leases.
Tata SIA applied to the Indian government for a no-objection certificate last December. This is a prerequisite before it can obtain an air operator’s permit.
Pending those regulatory approvals, the airline is expected to commence services in July, although the spokesman adds that this may slip to further in the third quarter.
The full service carrier will initially serve domestic routes from a base in New Delhi. The spokesman adds, however, that the airline would launch international services if the government follows through with a proposal to reduce restrictions on new carriers operating international services.
SIA announced last year that it would take a 49% stake in the proposed new carrier, while Tata will hold the remaining 51%. Tata also holds a 30% share in budget carrier AirAsia India, which is hoping to launch services in the first quarter of 2014.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
