Air India to dry lease 14 planes from Kuwait

New Delhi, June 14: National carrier Air India would dry lease 14 Airbus A320 planes from a Kuwaiti lessor as it seeks to replace its ageing narrow-body fleet with new fuel efficient planes. The carrier plans to replace 19 A320 planes. It has already entered into a deal with a Chinese firm for five sharklets-equipped A320 (ceo-current engine option) aircraft.For these five planes, it has tied up with independent Chinese lessor China Aircraft Leasing Company, which has already delivered one plane in early February. The rest four are to be inducted by October this year.Under the 14-plane deal with new engine option (NEO), which was inked recently after months of evaluation, a Kuwaiti aircraft leasing firm would deliver A320s between April 2017 and March 31, 2018, a senior Air India official told PTI.