French plane maker Airbus, which was in talks with state-owned airline Air India to extend the life cycle of its aircraft, has got approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to extend the life of at least three planes nearing 20 years of age.
Officials at the ministry of civil aviation confirmed that Airbus has been granted approval to extend the life of three A-320 aircraft, which are nearing its dying age. “The approval has been given to extend the life by one-and-half years. These aircraft need to be in air till Air India replaces the old fleet by new leased aircraft,” said officials.
Air India has a family of 62 narrow body aircraft, from the A-320 family, which officials said is the lifeline of domestic air travel. Nineteen out of these have an average age of 18.5 years, which needs to me replaced. The government has already given the beleaguered carrier which is grappling to compete with private airlines with a younger fleet like IndiGo, Go Air and SpiceJet, to replace the fleet with leased planes.
12/09/15 Sunny Sen/Financial Express
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Officials at the ministry of civil aviation confirmed that Airbus has been granted approval to extend the life of three A-320 aircraft, which are nearing its dying age. “The approval has been given to extend the life by one-and-half years. These aircraft need to be in air till Air India replaces the old fleet by new leased aircraft,” said officials.
Air India has a family of 62 narrow body aircraft, from the A-320 family, which officials said is the lifeline of domestic air travel. Nineteen out of these have an average age of 18.5 years, which needs to me replaced. The government has already given the beleaguered carrier which is grappling to compete with private airlines with a younger fleet like IndiGo, Go Air and SpiceJet, to replace the fleet with leased planes.
12/09/15 Sunny Sen/Financial Express
