Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Livemint
Livemint
National
Livemint

Air India signs agreement with Willis Lease Finance Corp for engines on its Airbus fleet. Details here

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 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. 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, according to news agency PTI report. 

Nipun Aggarwal, CCO Air India said, “this transaction will allow Air India to derisk itself operationally, improve fleet reliability, reduce cost, and optimise cash flow."

Meanwhile, in an unrelated development, official data released last week showed that the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines surged to 770.70 lakh in January-August 2022 period as against 460.45 lakh recorded during the corresponding period of the last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 67.38 per cent.

According to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the number of passengers carried by domestic airlines rose to 101.16 lakh in August 2022 as compared to 67.01 lakh in August 2021. On a month-on-month basis, domestic air traffic increased by 3 per cent in August 2022. Domestic air traffic in July 2022 stood at 97 lakh. It increased to over 1 crore in August 2022.

IndiGo- India's largest airline flew the largest number of passengers with a market share of 58 per cent. The Tata Group's airlines including Air India, Vistara and AirAsia India, together had a market share of 24 per cent in August. Interestingly, SpiceJet had the highest passenger load factor at 84.6 per cent in August while that of Vistara and IndiGo stood at 84.4 per cent and 78.3 per cent, respectively. 

(With inputs from ANI, PTI)

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Post your comment
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.