The Hindu Business Line : GoAir to take flight with leased A320s

GOAIR, the low-cost carrier promoted by the Wadias of Bombay Dyeing, will commence operations by the year-end, with four Airbus A320 aircraft leased from GATX Air.

The leased aircraft will be delivered later this year, according to Mr Nigel Harwood, Vice-President, Sales, Airbus Industrie. The lease deal was finalised after a rigorous evaluation process, he said here on Wednesday. The carrier plans to expand its fleet by purchasing more A320 aircraft from Airbus by the year-end.

Dr Kiran Rao, Senior Vice-President (Marketing), Airbus, said that GoAir's was the latest in a number of new purchases by Indian carriers that had gone in for Airbus aircraft.

At the Paris Air Show last week, IndiGo, a low-cost carrier promoted by travel company Interglobe, placed firm orders for 100 A320 aircraft, in a deal worth more than $6.5 billion.

IndiGo will take delivery of 9-10 aircraft every year for the next 10 years, with the first delivery expected happen in the second-half of 2006. However, operations could commence at an earlier date, with leased aircraft, Mr Harwood said.

Besides IndiGo, Jet Airways had placed firm orders for 10 A330 aircraft and options for 10 others, while Kingfisher placed five firm orders each for A330, A350 and A380.

In all, the aircraft manufacturer received 125 firm orders worth $13 billion from Indian carriers at the air show, officials said.

Asked about concerns of the Government on the spurt of activity in the aviation industry, he said issues such as shortage of pilots would prove difficult for the industry. He added, however, that he saw the phenomenon as a short-term one.

Dr Rao said the aircraft maker was disappointed at having lost out the Air India deal, though it looked forward to selling the A350 and A380 aircraft to the national carrier in the future. "We will see how things develop," he added.

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