The Tata Group-owned airline Air India has borrowed USD 120 million from Japanese lender SMBC to buy a wide-body Airbus aircraft, the lender announced on Wednesday. An official statement stated that Air India received an A350-900 aircraft from Airbus in October 2023, partially funded by the sale.
This is a secured lending arrangement, according to SMBC, and the borrower is AI Fleet Services, the GIFT City-based subsidiary of Air India.
The acquisition is a part of the Tatas’ massive announcement to acquire 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus in total; AI has also provided stock.
A reported price for an Airbus A350-900 aircraft is more than $300 million USD.
Hiroyuki Mesaki, the country head of the lender for India, stated, “SMBC Group is pleased to expand upon its long-established relationship with Tata Group through this deal.”
He continued by saying that this is the bank’s first-ever aeroplane finance lease transaction.
The aircraft was one of the first deliveries in the company’s huge aircraft purchase, which was announced earlier this year, according to Air India’s chief commercial and transformation officer, Nipun Aggarwal.
“This transaction is also a major step in expanding our aircraft financing business through GIFT City, India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC),” Aggarwal said.
According to an SMBC statement, India is currently the world’s fifth-largest aviation market. The industry is predicted to develop much more in the future due to factors including the advent of a sizable and expanding middle class that is eager to travel.
Additionally, Air India said on Tuesday that it has begun implementing its recently disclosed global brand identity across all guest touchpoints, starting with a complete rebranding at the airports in Delhi and Mumbai and a complete transfer to digital and internet platforms. August of this year saw the announcement of its new brand identity.
Air India crimson, aubergine, rose gold, and gold accents are among the new brand colours used in the design.
The airline, which is owned by the Tata Group, said that visitors will start to see the new branding at several touchpoints, such as check-in desks, boarding gates, lounges, and freshly created boarding cards, beginning with the airports in Delhi and Mumbai.
“The rollout will progressively extend to other airports across Air India’s growing global network in the coming weeks,” added the statement.
In addition, Air India released a new mobile app and updated its website. The company has updated its social media accounts to better represent the new brand.
Campbell Wilson, the chief executive officer and managing director of Air India, stated, “The network-wide switch to our new global brand identity is a landmark moment for Air India.”
The A350 fleet and later additional arriving aircraft will also be painted in the new Air India livery. “The in-flight rollout of the new global brand identity is linked to the airline’s soon-to-be-inducted Airbus A350 fleet as well as subsequent refurbishment of cabin products over the next few months,” said the business.
Air India signed $70 billion deals with Airbus and Boeing earlier this year for 470 aircraft. The first of these, Airbus A350 planes, will arrive this month.
By mid-2024, a $400 million effort to renovate 43 of Air India’s vintage widebody aircraft would get underway. Every cabin will have brand-new chairs installed, along with updated in-flight entertainment systems and Wi-Fi internet access.
