Air India to order ten A380s in 2008

Apart from Air India, Kingfisher also likely to buy 5 Airbus A380 planes.

26 February, 2008:

Air India may place an order for ten A380s and an agreement to that effect, between Air India and Airbus, is likely to happen in 2008.

According to a report, the order could be around $3 billion, based on the list price of the aircraft. Though Air India has not yet confirmed this, reports say that Airbus has already made its presentation to Air India and also to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Air India is expected to deploy A380 aircraft on the long-haul, high-density routes such as direct flights to New York and San Francisco and other US destinations.

Meanwhile, Air India has already placed an order for 68 aircraft with US manufacturer Boeing worth $11 billion. The A380 order will meet the traffic needs beyond 2012.

Air India is not alone when it comes to shopping for airplanes. Asian airlines have been showing a preference for A380s. Boeing, meanwhile, has pitted its B787 against the A380 on the premise that a trip cost on its aircraft will be 40 per cent lower than that of the A380's.

Kingfisher Airlines has placed five firm orders and five optional orders for the aircraft. Kingfisher is the only one in the country to have placed order for A380s. The first of Kingfisher's deliveries will come in early 2011.

Meanwhile, Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways has opted to skip the A380 shopping spree. Deciding against buying the A380, Goyal has already made it clear that he did not see any value for an A380 type of aircraft in his fleet.