Air India announced on 29 September that it had completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft through a finance lease transaction with HSBC through GIFT City.

This will also be the first wide-body aircraft leased through GIFT City, India’s first IFSC (International Financial Services Centre).

The transaction was done through its wholly-owned subsidiary AI Fleet Services Pvt and is also the first financing transaction from the orders for 470 aircraft that were made earlier this year.

The company expects the first A350-900 to arrive in India by the end of this year.

Tata Group-owned Air India has embarked on an ambitious, transformative plan.

Air India’s Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer Nipun Aggarwal said, “This landmark transaction marks the beginning of our aircraft leasing business from GIFT IFSC, as AIFS will be the primary Air India Group entity for wide body aircraft financing, playing a pivotal role in the future aircraft financing strategy for us and our subsidiaries.”

He added that the steps taken by the company by establishing a finance company for aircraft leasing at the IFSC will help the company in the long run by developing IFSC as a preferred destination for aircraft financing in India and worldwide.

The company currently has a fleet of 116 planes, including 49 wide-body aircraft.