Air India is close to placing landmark orders for as many as 500 jetliners worth tens of billions of dollars from both Airbus and Boeing as it carves out an ambitious renaissance under the Tata Group conglomerate, Reuters reported on Sunday.
The report said the orders include as many as 400 narrow-body jets and 100 or more wide-bodies, including dozens of Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s and 777s.
The deal could top 100 billion dollars at list prices, including any options, and rank among the biggest by a single airline in volume terms, overshadowing a combined order for 460 Airbus and Boeing jets from American Airlines over a decade ago, it mentioned.
The deal comes on the heels of Tata announcing its merger of Air India with Vistara.
That deal gives Tata a fleet of 218 aircraft, cementing Air India as the country's largest international carrier and second largest in the domestic market after leader IndiGo, it stated.
Air India reputation declined in the mid-2000s as financial troubles mounted, otherwise known for its stellar service.
Earlier, Air India had said it has plans to refurbish its legacy wide-body fleet , comprising 27 Boeing B787-8 and 13 B777 aircraft at an investment of USD 400 million.
The refurbishment announcement was aimed at complete overhaul of existing cabin interiors , including the addition of latest-generation seats and best-in-class inflight entertainment across all classes.
In addition, the refurbishment will see the introduction of a premium economy cabin on both fleets, it had said.
Air India had also announced that the first class cabin will also be retained on the 777s.
It had also said it has engaged London-based product design companies, JPA Design and Trendworks, to assist with the cabin interior design elements of this refurbishment programme.
