Can the Dreamliner save Air India?

New Delhi: AI is gambling heavily on the Dreamliner to reverse its fortunes.
This new plane has become AI’s javelin with which it hopes to outfly competition and repair its financial mess.
On 13th July, Boeing’s much delayed Dreamliner 787 will touch down on a Delhi tarmac on the way back to its headquarters in Seattle. For Boeing, Air India (AI) is just one of its 56 odd customers who have ordered this hi-tech aircraft, and the solo test flight from Delhi to Seattle via Mumbai is primarily meant to demonstrate the technological edge of this new bird in the sky to its customer.
However, for the ailing state-owned AI, this isn’t just another new aircraft joining its fleet. It is hoping that the plane will become the most potent weapon in its arsenal to fight itself out of its current twin nightmares—an eroding market share in the international skies and its current financial mess.
AIR INDIA has ordered 27 Dreamliner 787's, the first of which will come only in October after a three year delay. By the end of 2012, at least 11 planes will be operational.
THE NEW aircraft will be used by Air India to fly middle-haul routes which are under nine hours, replacing the existing fleet of Boeing 777s and A-320's
THE NEW business focus of AI is in the markets of west Asia, south east Asia and Europe which will constitute 80 per cent of its additional traffic growth by 2015.
08/07/11 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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Categories: Air India Jul 2011