[Anup Bhuvanan Welcomes You] After a 4-year wait, Air India takes delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner
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Sep 13, 2012, 12:49:18 PM9/13/12
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Air India was supposed to get the first of the B-787s in 2008, after it ordered 27 of them in 2005 from American aircraft maker Boeing. However, the national carrier could not get the first-mover advantage on international routes as planned for not being able to induct the planes on time.
The Dreamliner
is a twin-aisle 250-seater aircraft made of composite materials, which
make it lighter and is considered 17-20% more fuel-efficient compared
with an Airbus 330. They cater to the mid-market range, defined as carrying more than 200 people.
The mid-size plane has four variants, with the longest-range one capable of flying over 15,000 km non-stop. The aircraft for Air India has been configured to accommodate 256 seats - 18 full-flat business class seats and 238 economy class seats. It features a host of sophisticated technologies, including mood-lighting inside the cabin and large LCD display screens for in-flight entertainment.
Air India now plans to start new routes between India and the US, India and Europe and India and Australia with the help of these aircraft, eight of which will join the airline's fleet by March. As per the operational and financial turnaround plan of Air India, 14 Dreamliners are supposed to be inducted into the AI fleet by 2013-14. "Our balance sheets would have looked different had the B -787s arrived in May," an AI executive said.
Initially, the aircraft would be flown on routes such as Delhi-Dubai on the international sector and Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Amritsar on the domestic segment till October-November for the trained crew to practise more landings and take-offs. So far, 65 pilots have been trained to fly this plane. The next two 787s would fly out of Boeing facility in Charleston, South Carolina in the US in the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the airline has sought compensation running into millions of dollars from Boeing on the grounds of loss of opportunities, business and market share, inability to use more fuel-efficient aircraft, leasing of jets at high cost, and additional interest burden on pre-delivery payments it made for the planes.
However, now Air India's deal with Boeing for these planes is turning out to be a windfall gain for the struggling carrier as the airline could be eligible for an additional compensation of at least $80,000 per plane per annum if the machines don't match up to the performance standards claimed by the American manufacturer.
One of the performance standards is fuel efficiency, which for the first few aircraft is assessed to be way lower than promised because the planes are heavier by about 7.5 tonnes due to re-engineering. This amount would be in addition to a few hundred million dollars in compensation that Boeing is supposed to pay Air India anyway for delaying delivery of these aircraft by almost four years.
On 3 August, the cabinet committee on economic affairs permitted Air India to commence taking delivery of the Dreamliners it had ordered by approving a compensation settlement agreement for the aircraft. In addition, Air India is also planning to sell and lease back the first few B-787s, through which it will gain $15-17 million per plane.
The mid-size plane has four variants, with the longest-range one capable of flying over 15,000 km non-stop. The aircraft for Air India has been configured to accommodate 256 seats - 18 full-flat business class seats and 238 economy class seats. It features a host of sophisticated technologies, including mood-lighting inside the cabin and large LCD display screens for in-flight entertainment.
Air India now plans to start new routes between India and the US, India and Europe and India and Australia with the help of these aircraft, eight of which will join the airline's fleet by March. As per the operational and financial turnaround plan of Air India, 14 Dreamliners are supposed to be inducted into the AI fleet by 2013-14. "Our balance sheets would have looked different had the B -787s arrived in May," an AI executive said.
Initially, the aircraft would be flown on routes such as Delhi-Dubai on the international sector and Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Bangalore and Delhi-Amritsar on the domestic segment till October-November for the trained crew to practise more landings and take-offs. So far, 65 pilots have been trained to fly this plane. The next two 787s would fly out of Boeing facility in Charleston, South Carolina in the US in the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, the airline has sought compensation running into millions of dollars from Boeing on the grounds of loss of opportunities, business and market share, inability to use more fuel-efficient aircraft, leasing of jets at high cost, and additional interest burden on pre-delivery payments it made for the planes.
However, now Air India's deal with Boeing for these planes is turning out to be a windfall gain for the struggling carrier as the airline could be eligible for an additional compensation of at least $80,000 per plane per annum if the machines don't match up to the performance standards claimed by the American manufacturer.
One of the performance standards is fuel efficiency, which for the first few aircraft is assessed to be way lower than promised because the planes are heavier by about 7.5 tonnes due to re-engineering. This amount would be in addition to a few hundred million dollars in compensation that Boeing is supposed to pay Air India anyway for delaying delivery of these aircraft by almost four years.
On 3 August, the cabinet committee on economic affairs permitted Air India to commence taking delivery of the Dreamliners it had ordered by approving a compensation settlement agreement for the aircraft. In addition, Air India is also planning to sell and lease back the first few B-787s, through which it will gain $15-17 million per plane.
Under a sale and leaseback arrangement, an airline first buys aircraft,
sells it to a leasing company and then takes the planes back on lease.
This ensure that the aircraft transaction doesn't appear as debt in its
books.
According to airline officials, the Dreamliners will cost Air India somewhere around $98 million, whereas lessors are quoting somewhere around $115 million per plane. The extra money will help Air India get cheaper loans. In India, Boeing also has an order from Jet Airways for 10 Dreamliners. Boeing's order book for the B-787 worldwide currently stands at over 800 aircraft.
According to airline officials, the Dreamliners will cost Air India somewhere around $98 million, whereas lessors are quoting somewhere around $115 million per plane. The extra money will help Air India get cheaper loans. In India, Boeing also has an order from Jet Airways for 10 Dreamliners. Boeing's order book for the B-787 worldwide currently stands at over 800 aircraft.
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Posted By Anup to Anup Bhuvanan Welcomes You at 9/13/2012 10:19:00 PM
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