Air India's order for 470 aircraft will be worth $70 billion: CEO Wilson

Campbell Wilson added that the process of integration of Vistara with Air India is underway and is now awaiting approval from regulatory bodies

Air India's order for 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing will be worth $70 billion, the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson said on Monday. While addressing a virtual conference, he added that the process of integration of Vistara with Air India is underway and is now awaiting approval from regulatory bodies.

Wilson said that the airline plans to fund the order with a combination of many resources, including internal cash flow, shareholder equity and sale-and-leaseback of aircraft.

New aircraft will start entering the fleet from the end of this year through the end of the decade, to both transform the fleet and power significant network and capacity expansion.

On February 14, the airlines announced an order of 470 planes, including 70 wide-body aircraft. 220 of these will be bough from Boeing and 250 from Airbus. The airlines also has an option to purchase another 370 planes. 

On Monday, Wilson said that Air India has enormous potential and efforts are on to make the group a significant international player.

Wilson said that there are three steps to that process. One of competition clearance, the second is DGCA's regulatory aviation perspective and the third is the merger of the two companies. Currently, in the first phase, the Air India and Vistara merger will move to the second phase to get DGCA approval for merger following CCI nod.

"We are in the process of first phase seeking competition clearance," he added.

(With agency inputs)