India approves purchase of 43 Airbus jets

By agencies   |   Wednesday, 07 September 2005, 19:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: India has approved the long-delayed purchase of 43 planes from the European aircraft maker Airbus Industrie for state-run Indian Airlines for $2.2 billion, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday. "Our government has announced today the purchase of 43 Airbus aircraft worth 2.2 billion dollars," Singh told a press conference after talks here with European Union leaders led by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Indian Airlines board had agreed on the acquisition of 20 Airbus A-319s, 19 A-321s and four A-320s more than two years ago but a final decision had been delayed by required clearances from several layers of the government because of the order's size. A ministerial panel led by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram held final price negotiations Tuesday with Airbus for the purchase of the 43 planes. Indian Airlines mainly flies domestic routes but also heads to some regional, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian destinations. The carrier has lost market share to private airline Jet Airways, which has one of Asia's newest Boeing fleets, and several new low-cost airlines.

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