First GE-made Air India aircraft to be service ready in 2023 itself

New Delhi [India], February 23 (ANI): The first of the Air India aircraft with GE engines are expected to be service ready in 2023 itself, Vikram Rai – Country Head, South Asia and Indonesia of GE Aerospace said on Thursday. Air India, part of Tata group, had signed an order for 40 GE engines, plus a multi-year engine services agreement.

“The first of the new aircraft will enter service in late-2023, with the bulk to arrive beginning mid-2025,” Rai said in an exclusive interview with ANI. “Air India already has started taking delivery of 36 leased B777 and A320 aircraft to accelerate its fleet and network expansion.”

Terming Air India’s engine order as a “big opportunity” for the jet engines and systems suppliers company, he said it reflects continued confidence in GE Aerospace technology –which has been powering Air India’s carriers for more than 40 years.

Earlier this month, Air India, in a historic deal, announced it will buy 250 aircraft from Airbus and has also selected Boeing for the purchase of up to 290 planes as part of its growth strategy. Air India was looking for a mix of aircraft to boost their domestic and international network through recent orders. Soon after the divestment of the airline, the airline indicated it was going for a historic order.

“This order further deepens that relationship,” Rai added.

When asked how GE sees Indian aviation space becoming a key player in the coming years with multiple stakeholders or companies looking to expand its base, he said the majority of the aircraft that domestic carriers have on order right now are expected to be powered by engines from GE Aerospace and CFM (a joint venture between GE Aviation and Safran Aircraft Engines).

“Approximately 1,100 of the 1,200 aircraft that are currently on order will be powered by GE or CFM.”

India is the third-largest civil aviation market and it has the potential to expand exponentially with increasing number of flyers and the country’s economic growth story.

“There are currently more people in the middle class–around 440 million–than the entire population of the US. But India has only 700 commercial aircraft, compared to the US’s over 5000 aircraft. The potential to grow the commercial aviation market is huge. We are happy to help local airlines and also partner with airframers to bring the best of our technology to this market,” he said.

In the same breath, he said India is not just a market for GE Aerospace as it is also where it innovates on aerospace technology at its engineering centre in Bengaluru, in partnership with industry and academia.

“We also source engine parts from 13 Indian manufacturers and from our own factory in Pune for our global supply chain,” Rai added.

India aims to develop itself as a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) hub for defence equipment and systems.

“GE helped set up Air India’s MRO facility that includes GE90 testing capabilities in Nagpur in 2018-19. We are keen to help our partners set up service and maintenance capabilities locally,” he told ANI.

On a question posed what is GE’s medium and long-term plan for Indian aviation space and also has it been in touch with any other Indian carriers for similar deals, he, without getting into specifics, said, GE engages with various Indian carriers from time to time.

“Other than this historic Air India order some of our notable previous orders for GE and our joint venture partner CFM includes: Akasa Air with CFM for its LEAP-1B in 2021; IndiGo LEAP-1A order for 310 Airbus A320neo family aircraft in 2021; IndiGo for LEAP-1A to power 280 Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft in 2019; Vistara order for GEnx-1B engines for six Boeing 787 aircraft in 2018,” he added.