Air India is about to receive six Airbus A350-900s originally intended for Aeroflot as a part of its historic order, sources reveal. It is also believed that the aircraft will be delivered in the second half of 2023.
The Air India order includes six A350-900s and 34 A350-1000 aircraft.
Experts believe that the breakdown of this order was utilised to sell the six A350s destined for Aeroflot and secure the delivery slots.
Apart from Air India, Turkish Airlines has also taken advantage of these slots and booked six A350-900s, again destined for Aeroflot. The aircraft are already delivered between last year and this year.
Aeroflot had ordered 22 A350-900s but with the Western sanctions post the Russia-Ukraine war, all aircraft deliveries from Airbus and Boeing were halted.
Meanwhile, Aeroflot has placed order of over 300 Russian-built aircraft as a part of Russia’s strategy to reduce the use of Western aircraft and technology.
Just last month, Aeroflot purchased 10 Boeing 777-300ERs that were under lease from the lessor directly.
All-in-all this works in favour of Air India as the delivery slots are secured and ready for the second half of this year.