AirAsia India (Bengaluru International) has applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to add the B737 type to its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) as it gears up to add some ex-Jet Airways (Mumbai International) narrowbodies, The Times of India has reported.
The low-cost carrier, a 51/49 joint venture between Tata Sons and AirAsia Group, currently operates twenty A320-200s and does not have any Boeing narrowbodies. It is unclear how many B737-800s the carrier is planning to add.
The DGCA previously said it will temporarily reallocate Jet Airways' slots at Mumbai International and Delhi International only to airlines able to immediately add new flights from the congested gateways. This has prompted Indian airlines to scramble for additional equipment. SpiceJet (SG, Delhi International) previously said it will add twenty-two ex-Jet Airways B737-800s both as a cover for its thirteen grounded B737-8s and to grow capacity.
Vistara (Delhi International), another Tata Sons joint venture (with Singapore Airlines), which currently operates exclusively Airbus narrowbodies, is reportedly also looking at ex-Jet B737-800s.
Jet Airways operated forty-nine B737-800s at the time of its grounding, as well as two B737-700s and five B737-900s. Its subsidiary JetLite (Delhi International) operated a further two -700s and five -800s.
