AI to dry lease eight 72-seater ATR aircraft to Alliance Air

State-run Air India would dry lease eight 72-seater ATR aircraft for its regional subsidiary Alliance Air which plans to replace its ageing fleet, airline sources said today.
Currently, Alliance Air has seven ATR-42 besides four Canadian Regional Jets (CRJs) in its fleet.
"We are returning the old leased ATRs and replacing them with new 72-seater turboprop ATR 72-600/500," the sources told PTI here.
The eight leased planes are to be delivered from February till December next year, as the aged aircraft are returned to the lessors. The ATRs are mostly being flown by Alliance Air in the Northeastern region.
The decision to replace the aged fleet was taken at the Alliance Air board meeting little over a week ago, they said, adding the leases of some ATRs in the existing fleet were also being reworked to match the delivery of the newly leased planes which would be less than five years old.

The regional carrier would dry-lease these aircraft for a minimum period of 5-7 years, they said, adding, "The lease period could be extended depending upon the requirement at that period."
A dry lease as opposed to wet lease, comes without insurance, crew, ground staff, supporting equipment or maintenance.
Alliance Air operates as feeder service to Air India, providing connectivity mainly to and from the major cities. It operates over 162 flights per week, with an average of 30 departures per day.