Air India seals mega deals with Airbus, Boeing: Ten things to know about the record order

Air India unveiled deals on Tuesday for a record 470 jets from Airbus and Boeing. Here are ten things to know about this mega development in India's aviation sector.

* The provisional deals include 220 planes from Boeing and 250 from Airbus and eclipse previous records for a single airline as Air India vies with domestic giant IndiGo to serve what will soon be the world's largest population.

* The Airbus order includes 210 A320neo narrowbody planes and 40 A350 widebody aircraft, which Air India will use to fly "ultra-long routes", Tata Chairman N Chandrasekaran said. Boeing will supply 190 737 MAX, 20 of its 787 Dreamliners and 10 mini-jumbo 777X.

* Together with another 25 Airbus jets to be leased, the overall acquisition reaches 495 jets, an Airbus executive said.

* Chandrasekaran said Airbus and Tata were working on bigger partnerships, including an ambition "to bring in commercial aircraft manufacturing at some point in time in the future".

* Air India's order tops American Airlines' combined deal for 460 Airbus and Boeing planes more than a decade ago.

* The first aircraft to arrive will be 25 brand-new Boeing 737 MAX planes and six Airbus A350s in the second half of 2023, with deliveries really ramping up in 2025 and beyond.

* The deal includes a major win for engine maker CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and France's Safran. It has been selected to power 210 Airbus narrowbody jets ahead of rival Pratt & Whitney, while bigger jets will be powered by GE or Britain's Rolls-Royce.

* US President Joe Biden called the agreement "historic" and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the deal would create new jobs.

* "Striking the largest ever deal by one airline took months of secret talks carried out a stone's throw from Britain's Buckingham palace and culminating in a celebration over coastal Indian curries," Reuters reported quoting sources. 

* Negotiations led by Air India's chief commercial and transformation officer, Nipun Aggarwal, and Yogesh Agarwal, head of aircraft acquisitions, often stretched into the night, reported Reuters.