Air India has reportedly reached agreements with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing on what could be the largest procurement in aviation history, according to Bloomberg.

The sale of more than 500 aircraft is at stake as India's largest airline goes on a shopping spree.

Air India, the country's largest in terms of international routes and second largest in the domestic market, is trying to grow out of the fierce competition from low-cost carriers and the Gulf giants with the help of new, more fuel-efficient aircraft.

According to sources to Bloomberg, the purchase is already essentially complete and could be announced as soon as this week.

From European Airbus, Air India is expected to order around 210 A320s, with a single aisle and 40 of the wider A350s. Boeing is said to have secured the sale of 190 of the 737 Max model as well as 20 of the 787 Dreamliner, as well as ten 777x aircraft. As for Boeing, there are various options for further purchases, and the exact number of aircraft may vary slightly due to the complex nature of the agreements.

Air India was For a long time, India's national airline. Over the years, the company has made huge losses, had a high debt burden and has been repeatedly bailed out by taxpayers' money. But last year, the company was sold to the country's largest conglomerate, Tata, which actually founded Air India in the 1930s.

Tata announced in December that all of their airlines would be merged, except for Air India, which includes Vistara and the budget airlines Air India Express and Airasia India.

Source: TT-DI.SE