Air India Express mulls leasing some Jet Airways' Boeing 737s

Air India Express, the international budget arm of Air India, is examining the possibility of leasing some Boeing 737 aircraft of grounded carrier Jet Airways, which are parked at different airports due to non-payment, through a firm decision is yet to be taken, a top company official said Sunday.

Before halting operations temporarily mid-last week due to severe cash-drought, the private carrier was forced to ground 69 planes owing to non-payment of rentals to lessors.

Later, on April 16, it grounded the rest of the planes in its fleet, when it decided to temporarily suspend all its domestic and international services.

Air India Express parent, Air India, is already discussing a proposal to lease five of Jet Airways wide-body planes, Boeing 777s.

"We are looking at leasing (B737 of Jet Airways) aircraft but there is no firm decision on this issue so far. As a matter-of-fact, there are a lot of other things that have to be looked at, like slots, sectors and timings, among others," Air India Express chief executive officer Shyam K Sunder told PTI over phone from Kochi, the airline's headquarter.

When asked about the number of planes that his airline could induct from Jet Airways, he said, "We don't have a target number."