International flag carrier Air India will float tenders in December to lease one Boeing 747-400 and three Airbus A310 freighters to boost cargo services in 2005, according to an airline official.
Earlier this week, India's aviation minister said Air India would revive its shut cargo airline in 2005, while another state-owned carrier, Indian Airlines, would also launch a domestic cargo service next year.
The official said Air India planned to introduce the freighters by April-May 2005, when its Airbus A310s are replaced by Boeing 737s on lucrative Gulf routes as part of a plan to launch a new discount airline.
The A310s currently carry both passengers and cargo, especially perishable food products, to the Gulf countries.
Air India's new budget airline, Air India Express, will begin operations in April with about 25 percent lower fares than other international carriers and aims to boost its share of the key Gulf and Southeast Asian markets.
The airline will lease and introduce 14 Boeing 737s in phases, six in March, four in October and another four in March 2006.
The official said Air India would also float tenders, possibly before the end of the year, to buy up to 50 planes -- two thirds of them as firm orders and one-third as options -- as part of a plan to more than double its fleet by 2012.
Air India currently has a fleet of 34 planes.
The airline's board said in November that it would buy three types of medium capacity aircraft and consider the Airbus A340-500 or the Boeing 777-200LR (long range) to fly on ultra long-range routes, usually non-stop from India to the US.
It would consider the A340-600 or the Boeing 777-300ER in a three-class configuration to fly on long-range routes and choose between the A330-200 and the Boeing 7E7-8 for long-range routes in a two class configuration. The carrier did not say how many of each type it planned to buy.
