India's Jet, GoAir ready $6.5bn Airbus order

MUMBAI: India's largest private airline Jet Airways and budget carrier GoAir are in line to order $6.5 billion worth of Airbus aircraft at the forthcoming Paris Air Show, The Economic Times reported on Thursday.

The financial daily quoted Jet chairman Naresh Goyal as saying that they were buying 10 A330 aircraft worth $2.5 billion as part of plans to expand its routes in Europe.

GoAir is looking to order at least 50 narrow-body A320 jets worth $4 billion for short-haul domestic routes, which will be brought into service as soon as next year, the report said, quoting two sources familiar with the matter.

Both orders were still being negotiated but were in the final stages, the newspaper added, quoting unnamed sources within Airbus.

A Jet Airways spokeswoman in New Delhi told AFP that she had no details on the exact nature of the orders, as Goyal was speaking on the sidelines of the recent International Air Transport Association annual general meeting in Singapore.

But she added: "We're asking for just a few (aircraft) because that's in line and keeping with our growth plan."

No one was immediately available for comment at GoAir.

The Economic Times said budget airline IndiGo would also push ahead with a previously announced order for 180 A320 aircraft with an estimated value of $15 billion, after signing a memorandum of understanding with Airbus last year.

Air India, the state-run national carrier, is planning to take 10 A330s and 16 A320s on a rental basis, it added.

Aviation has taken off in India in recent years but private airlines have been grappling with rising fuel prices and a slowdown in economic growth that has hit business.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011