Billion dollar question: Will AI buy A-380 or Boeing 747-800?

New Delhi: After reviewing future traffic growth, Air India has decided to order the biggest passenger aircraft that are capable of flying over 550 travellers on the busiest global routes. The two planes that fit into this category are the A-380 and the Boeing 747-800.
"We are are going to set up a panel to examine which plane will be best suited for us," Air India chairman and managing director V Thulasidas said. The merged AI-Indian Airlines entity is going to get 111 new planes in the next four years but most of them would be used to replace old and leased aircraft.
Aviation minister Praful Patel has asked AI to firm up its additional requirement at the earliest as deliveries of orders placed even today won’t start before five years.
As of now, Kingfisher is the only Indian carrier that has ordered five A-380 aircraft whose delivery will begin in a couple of years. If Air India decides on this plane, it will become the second Indian airline to do so.
01/10/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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