Industrial conglomerate Tata Group, which has been running Air India since last January, yesterday issued a tender for the sale of the three Boeing 777-200LR (Long Range) aircraft that are currently part of the airline’s fleet.
According to the company, bids from those interested in taking over the three wide-body aircraft must be submitted by August 16th. The LR version of the Boeing 777-200 was developed for long-range operations, thanks to its additional fuel tanks. It has a maximum range of up to 17.500 kilometres.
In early 2021, Air India began using its 777-200LR to fly between Bangalore (BLR) and San Francisco (SFO), which became the longest route in its network and one of the longest in the world. In May of the same year, the connection was discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation in India. Subsequently, the company resumed services in November, but abandoned them permanently in March 2022.
Currently, the three aircraft are regularly used on operations between New Delhi (DEL) and San Francisco (SFO). The two airports are 6.697 nautical miles (12,402 kilometres) apart. In addition, they operate domestic and regional flights on high-demand routes.
The aircraft
Air India took delivery of its three Boeing 777-200LR between June and September 2009. The aircraft are currently configured with a three-class layout and a total of 238 seats.
- VT-ALF: manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 36305. Delivered on June 23th, 2009. Accumulated 45.177 flight hours.
- VT-ALG: manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 36305. Delivered on July 28th, 2009. Accumulated 42.825 flight hours.
- VT-ALH: manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 36307. Delivered on September 1st, 2009. Accumulated 36.448 flight hours.
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