Paramount to spend $1.3 bn on fleet

Kolkata: Madurai-based ‘allbusiness class’ airline Paramount Airways plans to pump $1.3 billion in fleet expansion over the next three to five years.
Airline managing director M Thiagarajan said the carrier would add 15 short-hall , regional jets and 10 mediumhaul , wide-bodied aircraft to go pan-Indian by 2010 and introduce international flights by 2011.
Speaking to TOI, Thiagarajan said a technical committee was evaluating both Boeing and Airbus aircraft for its international operations that are slated to commence in two years. “To begin with, we will operate flights to South-East Asia and Gulf region. Then, the service will be extended to Europe and the US. We are closely evaluating A330s and A350s from Airbus, as well as the 777s and 787s from Boeing. We should be able to arrive at a decision and sign the deal by June-July ,” he said.
With each wide-bodied aircraft carrying a price-tag of $80-90 million, Paramount Airways will have to shell out $800-900 million for building its international fleet. In addition , it plans to acquire 15 more Embraer 170/190 series jets for domestic operations. This fleet expansion should cost around $400 million.
“We have five Embraer jet aircraft in our fleet now. The sixth aircraft will arrive next month, followed by four others by this year-end . The rest will be delivered next year,” Thiagarajan said.
28/04/09 Subhro Niyogi/Economic Times

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Categories: Paramount Airways Apr 2009