Air India (AI, Delhi International) has signed a dry-lease contract with CDB Aviation for six incremental A320-200Ns as it proceeds with its post-privatisation fleet renewal drive.
The aircraft will deliver in the second half of 2023 and will come from CDB Aviation's Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) order book. The lessor has sixty-four A320neo in its portfolio (including 12 placed with Air India's domestic rival Go First (Mumbai International)) with 42 more on order from the manufacturer, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows.
Air India's current A320neo fleet comprises 27 aircraft on lease from ALAFCO (14), Park Aerospace Holdings (ten), Goshawk (two), and GECAS (one). In September 2022, it announced it had signed leases for another twenty-one A320-200Ns and four A321-200Ns (a new type in its fleet). It is not clear if the newly announced contract with CDB Aviation falls under the scope of the earlier disclosure or if it is an entirely new deal. The airline did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment.
The Tata Sons carrier reportedly plans to order around 300 new-generation narrowbodies.