Air India is planning to wet lease four Boeing 737-800 for its no-frills subsidiary AI Express.
The added cost of wet leasing has led to speculation in the industry as to Air India’s decision, especially since there is a surplus of pilots in Air India Express.
Air India has also floated tenders to dry lease 10 A330s for five years with the option of extending the lease period by another two years. The aircraft, which would need to be delivered from the second quarter of this year, should be manufactured in 2009 or later but the airline would consider four year old planes if it did not get proper response for the newer ones.
Air India is also intending to sub-lease two A330-200 aircraft, currently in its fleet, until 2014.