One of the world's leading aircraft lessors said on Monday that Air India is set to order around 500 planes as an airline industry recovery takes hold after the Pandemic.
As a result of this recovery, there is more momentum for large orders from airlines who have kind of sat back and watched the movie, and now they're seeing there's going to be a positive trend, Steven Udvar-Hazy, executive chairman of AirLease Corp, told the Airline Economics conference.
The proposed deal is dependent on ongoing negotiations with engine makers, according to industry sources.
Air India did not respond to a request for comment. Airbus and Boeing had no immediate comment.
United Airlines recently ordered 200 large and small aircraft. China placed a block order for Airbus jets last year.
We do expect a number of airlines to place large orders, and most of these orders will be for replacement, according to Udvar-Hazy.
He predicted that airlines would increasingly turn back to medium-sized wide-body jets after significant delays in the development of Boeing's largest new model, the 400 seat 777 X, currently running at five years and possibly rising further.
In the next couple of years, both OEMs will be under pressure to increase production rates, not necessarily back to the levels they were in 2018, but certainly well above current production.