Mumbai: Air India on Thursday said it has signed a definitive sale and lease back agreement with Nasdaq-listed Willis Lease Finance Corporation for 34 CFM56-5B engines installed on its Airbus A320 family fleet.
The engines will be covered under Willis Lease's ConstantThrust, which will deliver significant reliability and cost savings over a traditional MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) shop visit programme, the company said in a statement. Under the sale side of the transaction, Willis Lease will purchase 34 engines from Air India, powering 13 Airbus A321 aircraft and four Airbus A320 aircraft, it said.
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Through the programme, Willis Lease will provide replacement and standby spare engines, allowing the airline to avoid potentially costly and unpredictable shop visits on engines powering a transitioning aircraft fleet. "This transaction will allow Air India to derisk itself operationally, improve fleet reliability, reduce cost, and optimise cash flow," Air India CCO Nipun Aggarwal said. (PTI)
