Air India Says No Plan To Cancel Plane Deliveries

New Delhi: Air India doesn't plan to defer taking delivery of new planes from Airbus and Boeing Co. (BA) or cancel orders despite a market slowdown as it will use the planes to replace leased aircraft, a senior executive at the nation's flag carrier said.
India's aviation sector is currently facing challenges including a slowing economy and the higher cost of jet fuel, which has pushed up ticket prices. This has led to lower demand and overcapacity. Some local carriers, such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd. and SpiceJet Ltd., have recently said they may consider postponing taking delivery of new planes.
"The new capacity of planes coming in by December 2009 will be neutralized as leases for about a dozen-odd planes expire in that period," Executive Director Corporate Communications Jitender Bhargava told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. "We don't plan to renew those leases. We are sticking to our orders," he said.
Air India is scheduled to get seven planes between July and December this year from plane makers Airbus and Boeing. Another 30 planes including two Boeing 787s are due in 2009.
09/07/08 Nitin Luthra/Dow Jones/CNNMoney.com

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