Air India floats tender to raise $535 million to buy 3 Boeing planes

National carrier Air India has floated a tender to raise $535 million to bridge finance a loan raised to acquire three Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) planes.

Two of the planes will be used by the government for ferrying important officials, a spokesperson said.

The planes are part of the historic and much-debated $15-billion 111plane order placed by the airline in 2005-06. They included 68 Boeings and 43 Airbus planes. The Boeings included 15 777s, 12 of which have been delivered. They are deployed into long haul routes like the US.

Two of the remaining three will be delivered in January and the last one in February 2018.

The bridge finance will be availed for 12 months or till the refinancing of the loan, whichever is earlier.

The airline has solicited interest from lenders for loan worth up to $535 million, for which two separate term sheets would be inked. At current exchange rates, the loan would be to the tune of around Rs 3,460 crore.

After making required modifications, the two planes would join the fleet that are generally used to carry President, Vice President and Prime Minister, the spokesperson said.

As per the purchase agreement with Boeing, Air India is to buy 15 B777-300 ER aircraft and it has already taken delivery of 12 such planes.

The spokesperson said that Air India had placed an order with Boeing for 68 aircraft in 2005.

“These B777-300 ER airplanes are the last of the three aircraft to be delivered. They are being delivered on January 18 and February 18 by Boeing. Out of these three airplanes, two will be used by government for VVIP travel,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the revised tender document, one term sheet would be for two aircraft that are to be delivered in January next year and the loan amount required is up to $400 million. The figure translates to around $200 million for each plane.

For the remaining aircraft, a separate term sheet would be inked for a loan of up to $135 million.

“The facility should be a direct loan without the requirement for formation of a special purpose vehicle structure which requires title transfer,” the tender document said.

The call for bids comes even as the government tries to firm up modalities for the loss-making overleveraged airline's disinvestment. In September and in October, the airline floated tenders to raise close to Rs 5,000 crore short term loans for working capital requirements. At present, the flagship airline has a fleet of 115 aircraft.

The B777-300 ER aircraft owned by Air India has 342 seats for passengers.