Air India reveals orders for 470 Boeing, Airbus jets

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer

LONDON (AP) — Air India has unveiled orders for 470 Boeing and Airbus aircraft. India’s largest international airline is racing to tap surging demand for increasingly affordable air travel from the nation’s growing ranks of middle-class consumers. Air India is buying 220 Boeing aircraft valued at $34 billion. It marks the U.S. plane maker’s third-largest sale of all time, in dollar value, and its second of all time in quantity. India’s second-largest domestic carrier also is buying 250 passenger jets from European plane manufacturer Airbus. The airline is seeking to reinvent itself by expanding its operations and modernizing its fleet. The leaders of the U.S., France and India championed the orders.