"No airline is making money in India because they are selling below cost. The country is seeing a 25 per cent annual growth rate in air passenger traffic, but some slowdown is also expected. These are some of the pains when markets open up," said John Leahy, chief operating officer (customers), Airbus. Leahy, however, declined to offer details.
European aircraft maker Airbus Industrie is in talks with flag carrier Air India for sale of up to 12 superjumbo A-380 planes, as it looks for a greater presence in the world's fastest growing civil aviation market. The long range aircraft can enable an airline to fly to Delhi-Los Angles or Delhi-New York non-stop.
According to News 24, Airbus sales chief John Leahy said that Dreamliner is going to cost a lot in maintenance alone as its architecture is not mature and will require a lot of time, money and redesigning of quite a few systems onboard.
According to Airbus sources close to the development, "Airbus has already made its presentation to Air India and also to the ministry. Whenever they are ready and instruct us to put in the bid, we will do so." The order could be around $3 billion, based on the list price of the aircraft. But, the negotiated price may vary.
UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya and Airbus chief operating officer John Leahy signed an MoU to this effect at the 47th International Paris Air show on Wednesday.
The world's largest passenger aircraft A-380 touched down for the first time in India on Sunday to mark the second anniversary celebrations of Kingfisher Airlines.
Overall, with an above world average traffic growth rate of 5.5 per cent, Asia-Pacific will account for 36 per cent of all new passenger aircraft demand
They will grow at 5.8 per cent a year.
IndiGo's ascent is not without its risks, however.
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