Air India is looking to take Boeing planes rejected by Chinese carriers, people familiar with the matter said, joining the ranks of Asian airlines vying to benefit from the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
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The Tata Group-owned carrier, which urgently needs aircraft to expedite its revival, plans to approach Boeing about acquiring a number of jets the US planemaker was readying for Chinese airlines before reciprocal tariffs thwarted the handovers, according to people, who are familiar with discussions at the Indian airline and did not want to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Air India is also eager to take up slots for future deliveries should they become available, the people said. The carrier has benefited from China’s pullback in the past – through March, it had accepted 41 737 Max jets originally built for Chinese airlines whose deliveries were deferred dating back to the model’s 2019 grounding.
Representatives for Air India and Boeing declined to comment. Malaysia Aviation Group is also in talks with Boeing over delivery slots vacated by Chinese carriers, Bernama reported on Sunday.
Chinese airlines were told by the government not to accept Boeing aircraft, Bloomberg News reported last week, after Beijing set reciprocal tariffs of up to 125 per cent on US-made goods. About 10 planes were being prepared for delivery at the time, and some 737 Max jets in China have since been sent back to the US.
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Trump pauses US tariffs on most nations for 90 days but raises levies on China to 125%
Trump pauses US tariffs on most nations for 90 days but raises levies on China to 125%
Any Boeing planes already built or in progress will present complications for potential buyers, as the cabin configurations for many will already have been set by the original customer, and some payments will have been made. Boeing cannot place any aircraft with new owners that are still under contract to airlines in China.
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