Jet Airways likely to place record order with Boeing and Airbus

NEW DELHI, India – Jet Airways (India) Ltd. will likely announce orders for as many as 200 planes from Boeing Co. and Airbus, an aviation consultancy said, in what would be the biggest aircraft-purchase order ever by an Indian carrier.

The Mumbai-based airline has placed an order last month for 50 of Boeing’s newest 737 MAX jetliners and eight or ten 777-300 extended-range planes, Sydney-based CAPA-Centre for Aviation said in report Thursday about India’s aviation market.

The report was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The Boeing order will be announced officially at the air show in Paris, the report said. The weeklong air show starts June 17.

Jet is also likely to announce, at the same show, an order for 50 of Airbus’s 320 Neo jets for use by its low-cost service–JetKonnect.

The report didn’t provide the value of the orders.

Jet’s order for the Boeing 737 MAX planes could range from $4.1 billion to $5.37 billion at catalog prices. The 50 Airbus 320 Neo have a combined list price of about $5 billion. Airlines typically negotiate prices and what they pay are usually lower than those listed on catalogs.

Executives at Jet Airways didn’t respond to phone calls. An email sent to the airline’s spokeswoman Ragini Chopra remained unanswered.

Boeing has listed on its website an order for fifty-two 737 and eight 777 planes from an unidentified customer.

A Boeing India spokeswoman declined to comment. Executives at Airbus couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

CAPA said Jet was in talks with Airbus to acquire 100 A320 Neo aircraft but has now decided to split the order with Boeing.

“Jet is therefore expected to announce a total order for over 100 aircraft in Paris,” it said. “The longer-term order could be as high as 200,” which is expected to be announced in phases, the report added.

Jet–controlled by Naresh Goyal–currently has a fleet of 100 planes, which include Boeing, Airbus and ATR aircraft.

The potential orders will be the first by the airline for the 737 MAX and A320 Neo planes.

In recent years, Indian carriers have been placing plane orders to meet potential growth in air travel in Asia’s third-biggest economy. In 2011, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.’s IndiGo, the nation’s biggest budget carrier, placed an order with Airbus for 180 A320 jetliners.

The orders CAPA mentioned in its report come after Jet last month agreed to sell a 24% stake to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways for $380 million.

CAPA said Jet wasn’t able to place large orders for planes until the Etihad deal was finalized because export-credit agencies were concerned about its high debt, due to which the airline was forced to lease Airbus 330 planes to add capacity.