Sunday, April 13, 2014

Bank of India loans $200 million to Air India for purchase of 3 Dreamliners

New Delhi, Apr 13: 

Bank of India (BoI) has become the first Indian bank to extend a bridge loan of $ 200 million to Air India to finance the purchase of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Confirming the development, a senior Airline official said that the London branch of the Bank had come forward to extend funds to Air India to acquire the Boeing 787 aircraft.

The funds raised from BoI will be used to acquire the 13th and 14th B-787 aircraft which the airline is to take delivery of.

Like in the past, the state owned carrier will go in for a sale-and-lease back mechanism, a common route adopted by several airlines to acquire expensive assets like aircraft. The Boeing website shows that a Boeing 787 retails for between $ 211 and $ 288 million. The actual price of the aircraft varies from airline to airline depending on the number of aircraft ordered.

Meanwhile, Air India has started liquidating its debts and has paid off ₹ 465 crore to the Delhi Airport International Limited between April 2013 and March 31 this year, officials said.

During fiscal year 2014-15, Air India expects revenue from carrying passengers to touch ₹ 16,400 crore with international passengers accounting for 55 per cent of this revenue. The state owned carrier expects to carry close to 16 million passengers during the fiscal. The turnover of the Group is expected to touch ₹ 21,500 crore during fiscal 2014-15 with Air India contributing ₹ 19,100 crore with its two subsidiaries Air India Express chipping in with ₹2,200 crore and Alliance Airlines providing about ₹ 200 crore. 



Source:    http://www.thehindubusinessline.com