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Originally Posted by Cessna182 Just curious- is there any reason why such a large aircraft has to be used for the PM, when smaller private planes are being used globally by many corporates? I don't understand the aviation business at all, my knowledge is based on google searches, hence I request for inputs on correcting the following statement.
A good private plane can cost between 30 to 800 cr and many industrialists in India use these. Maybe the range is too low for international travel, but could fuel capacity enhancements be made for them instead of buying a billion plus dollar airplane? Especially at a time when even the armed forces and the air force are struggling to upgrade their equipment (India remains one of the few countries to still have Mig 21s). |
You know who else has a ton of Mig-21s? The Chinese airforce. Infact as a % of the their active inventory, they form a larger chunk than the % of Mig-21s in the Indian Air force.
Well its very simple why the PMO needs a new and a bigger plane. Because whoever the Prime Minister is, he/she is not an industrialist. So the security concerns will be much higher.
The older 747-400s were first ordered for Air India back in the early 90s. Later they were transferred to the PM's detail to be used as the Air India One. However, the 747s are at the end of their life, they are close to 30 years old now. And they are expensive to operate plus spend a lot of time in maintaince. Therefore, a replacement has to be found.
It had to be big enough to carry the PMO's security detail, the press which travels with him, any bespoke equipment that need to be used in the other country like arms etc, the ministers, the bureaucrats and diplomats that travel along for meets like G20 etc. It had to have long range since refuelling stops are a security issue and the aircraft also needs to have secure communication equipment and stuff like missile warning and chaff dispensers.
These two aircrafts are going to be used for a long time, atleast 25 years. So that is five full terms for an Indian head of state, whoever they might be in the future. If you are amortising the cost over 25 years, it isnt that much.
Plus India is expected to be the third largest economy much before the end of this decade and will be one of three biggest economies in the world along with China and United States for a long time. Therefore, the security needs and the logistical needs of any Indian head of state will be high, Which cannot be accomodated in a Gulfstream. We are practically the only country which seems to be in war with two nuclear-power countries, all the time!
Therefore for the aircraft the options could have been the 787-9, A350 or 777-300ER or even the new 777X.
But luckily we had slots for the 777-300ER already with us. It was part of the mega deal in 2005 when Air India signed up for 68 aircraft. That deal included 15 777-300ERs (which at that time was a brand new model variant of the 777). The 777W (which the 777-300ER was more commonly known as) had really long range, great cargo capacity and could still seat 350 - 450 passengers. It was clearly aimed at the Jumbo Jet market since it would be cheaper to operate both from a running costs point of few and maintaince point of few than the 747s since it had two huge but very fuel efficienct engines without sacrificing on the seat capacity nor cargolifting ability.
However soon after that deal, the global economy crashed in 2007 and Air India was left holding a bill that ran into billions and a order of 15 giant planes which they could not fill up. So they deferred many of the orders and in the end took delivery of the just 13 777Ws over the next few years. They did not want the last two aircraft and which perfectly fit in with the SPG's need for new planes and also a natural replacement for a 747-400.
It was also a win-win deal since frankly there must have been a lot of discount price associated with those planes. Airlines rarely pay list price for planes, discounts can be as huge at 30 to 40%. For a deal that was signed in 2005 (which anyway must have had some sweetner added back then), Boeing would have been happy to get those slots confirmed for the 777 since production of the 777W is close to ending. So instead of negotiating with Boeing or Airbus for a fresh order of 2 planes where the PMO would not have been able to push for discounts, picking up those 777Ws was clever.