Air India has signed definitive sale-and-leaseback agreements with Willis Lease Finance (Willis Lease) for 34 CFM56-5B engines installed on its Airbus A320-family fleet. The engines will be covered under Willis Lease’s ConstantThrust® programme, which will deliver significant reliability and cost savings versus a traditional MRO shop visit programme. This is the first ConstantThrust® sale-and-leaseback agreement for aircraft engines by any Indian carrier.
Under the sale side of the transaction, Willis Lease will purchase 34 engines powering 13 Airbus A321 aircraft and four Airbus A320 aircraft from Air India. Through its ConstantThrust® programme, Willis Lease will provide replacement and standby spare engines, allowing Air India to avoid potentially costly and unpredictable shop visits on engines powering a transitioning aircraft fleet. Willis Lease will also have an in-country team to coordinate and manage the entire programme and all logistics and transportation involved.
