Air-India to lease 5 A 310s, Boeing plan dropped

Air-India will close negotiations this week for lease of five Airbus A 310 aircraft, the airline's official spokesman said on Tuesday.

The airline will not be leasing two Boeing 747-300 'combi' aircraft as was planned earlier, he added.

"We will open commercial bids and complete negotiations with lessors this week for dry-lease of five Airbus A 310s," the spokesman said.

He did not give reasons why the airline had dropped its plans to lease Boeings.

Singapore Airlines, GE Capital Aviation Services, Airbus Industrie and International Lease Finance Corp, a unit of American International Group, are the four companies in the race for Air-India's contract for the five Airbus aircraft, the spokesman said.

The Airbuses will join Air-India's fleet, which currently has 23 planes, in October. The state-run international airline will operate these planes on routes to Europe and the Middle East.

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