[New Delhi] Air India Mops up Rs 7,000 Crore Through 9 Dreamliner Plane Sale.National carrier Has 21 Such Aircrafts.This Fund Will Go Into Repayment Of The Earlier Availed Bridge Loan.
Air India has mopped up Rs 7,000 crore by selling nine of its 21 Dreamliner planes to a Singaporean lessor, which it has taken back on lease from the company under an SLB arrangement.
As per Airline Sources A major chunk of these funds will go into repayment of the bridge loan availed earlier for purchasing these Boeing 787-800s,
Air India has 131 aircraft in its fleet, consisting of Boeing, Airbus and ATR planes as well as CRJs. Of these, 21 are Boeing 787-800s.
These nine B 787-800s were inducted into the national carrier’s fleet between March 2014 and June this year.
Air India had last month invited bids from domestic and international banks /financial institutions to sell these planes.The airline had fixed a reserve price of not less than USD 123 million for the planes acquired in 2015 and USD 120 million for the aircraft inducted in the fleet during 2014.
As part of its fleet expansion plan, the national carrier had in 2006 placed orders with Boeing for 68 aircraft- 27 Dreamliners, 15 B777-300ERs, eight B777-200LRs and 18 B-737- 800s.
Surviving on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package from the parent, Government of India, Air India had reported a net loss of Rs 5,547.47 crore in the last fiscal on the back of total revenues of Rs 19,781 crore.