Aviation giant Air India, on Friday, announced that it had completed the acquisition of its first A350-900 aircraft through a finance lease arrangement facilitated by HSBC within the GIFT City. Notably, this marks the pioneering instance of leasing a wide-body aircraft through the GIFT City, India's premier International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

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The airline further said that the transaction was facilitated by its wholly-owned subsidiary AI Fleet Services Ltd (AIFS) and is also the first financing transaction from the orders for 470 aircraft that were made earlier this year.

Air India, owned by the Tata Group and currently undergoing an ambitious transformation initiative, anticipates the arrival of its first A350-900 aircraft in India by the close of this year.

"This landmark transaction marks the beginning of our aircraft leasing business from GIFT IFSC, as AIFS will be the primary Air India Group entity for wide body aircraft financing, playing a pivotal role in the future aircraft financing strategy for us and our subsidiaries," Nipun Aggarwal , Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer, Air India said.

The airline has successfully acquired India's first Airbus A350-900 aircraft through a finance lease transaction with HSBC, the company said in a release. 

"The steps taken by Air India by establishing a finance company for the purpose of aircraft leasing and financing at IFSC will go a long way in developing IFSC as a preferred destination for aircraft leasing and financing in India as well as globally,"  Aggarwal added.

Dipesh Shah, the Executive Director of the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), has mentioned that they are actively collaborating with stakeholders to establish regulatory mechanisms that support aircraft leasing and financing.

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The airline has reportedly placed an order for six A350-900 aircraft, with five of them set for delivery by March 2024. In addition to these, the airline's confirmed orders for new aircraft consist of 34 A350-1000s, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777Xs, 140 A320 neos, 70 A321 neos, and 190 Boeing 737MAXs.

Air India finalized purchase agreements for these aircraft with Airbus and Boeing in June of this year. At present, Air India maintains a fleet comprising 116 aircraft, including 49 wide-body aircraft.