Air India Wants to Be The Next Emirates

New owner Tata Group is likely spending $60 billion on jets to expand the carrier globally

India reached a milestone at the end of last year when it overtook China as the world’s most populous nation. But that explosive growth is hardly reflected in the size of its commercial aviation fleet. Today the entire country has only about 700 aircraft—fewer than United Airlines Holdings Inc. alone—and just 50 widebody jets to transport its increasingly mobile 1.41 billion people.

Chinese carriers, by contrast, operate about 480 twin-aisle aircraft, and Emirates, whose base of Dubai has a fraction of the population of Mumbai, boasts a widebody fleet of 260 jetliners, according to figures from Cirium, which aggregates aviation data.

Now, Air India is making an expensive push to renew its fleet and expand its global presence. One year after conglomerate Tata Group bought the airline from the government for $2.2 billion, Air India on Feb. 14 announced an order of 470 aircraft, potentially marking the biggest deal in commercial aviation history with a list price value likely exceeding $60 billion. The global importance of the purchase was underscored by the three heads of state who participated in the announcement: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The order is split about evenly between archrivals Airbus SE and Boeing Co., including roughly 400 of the popular A320- and 737-family narrowbody jets and about 70 widebodies, plus options for more from either company. The new aircraft are meant to give Air India a fighting chance at competing with local budget carriers such as IndiGo as well as long-haul champions Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, which have built huge operations over the past two decades funneling millions of passengers through their Persian Gulf hubs.