Air India (AI, Delhi International) has entered into sale/lease-back agreements valued at USD600million with two European financial institutions. India's LiveMint says the debt-ridden national carrier has sold four of its B787-8s to Germany's Deutsche Bank while a fifth has gone to British firm, Investec. Both companies have similar existing agreements with Air India with Deutsche Bank having bought three B787s and Investec four.
“Sale and leaseback of planes will give us upfront liquidity. Besides liquidity, the balance sheet of airline will also look strong,” an Air India executive told the paper adding that the airline plans to offload an additional five B787s.
Air India has been working on expanding its leased-in fleet with 30 aircraft already on lease. The airline is expected to add an additional 17 A320s for use on its domestic operations.
As previously reported, subsidiary Air India Express (IX, Delhi International) is scheduled to lease eight B737-800s this winter while Alliance Air (India) (9I, Delhi International) is set to take on five ATR72s - two from an undisclosed Britsh firm and two from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).
