MUMBAI -- Air India has floated two tenders to lease a total of 57 planes as the loss-making national carrier tries to regain market share lost to local and overseas rivals.
The latest plan comes even as the airline continues to take delivery of 111 planes it ordered from Airbus and Boeing in 2005 for $15 billion.
The carrier aims to lease 10 long-haul Airbus 330 planes for international operations and an equal number of Airbus 320s, 15 ATR turboprop planes and 18 CRJ700 planes of Canada's Bombardier Inc. to expand its domestic operations, one of the tenders on its website showed.
The airline also aims to lease up to four Boeing 737-800 planes for its low-cost unit Air India Charters Ltd., which operates short-haul overseas flights under the brand Air India Express, according to the second tender document. The aircraft will be leased for a period of five years.
Air India has received deliveries of 81 planes so far from the 111 it ordered. It includes all 43 planes ordered from Airbus and 38 from Boeing.
The carrier has been in the red since 2007, but managed to trim its net loss by a fifth to 55.51 billion rupees [$1.23 billion] during the financial year ended March 31.
Large plane orders and a depleting cash flow forced the carrier to take on more debt during the global economic slowdown of 2008 and early 2009. Air India currently has a total debt of 400 billion rupees.
However, demand for air travel has been growing rapidly since the middle of 2009 and in recent months has exceeded capacity additions by airlines. Recent data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation showed that while flight seats offered by airlines for sale have risen 8%-10% from the year earlier during April to October, the number of passengers has increased 15%-20%.
To cash in on the rise in demand, low-fare carrier SpiceJet Ltd. recently placed a $900 million order with Canada's Bombardier Inc. for 30 planes and before that a $2.7 billion order for 30 Boeing planes. Rival budget airline IndiGo has also received government approval to buy 150 Airbus planes.
