New Delhi, Dec 20: Air India will soon purchase four brand-new aircraft in a deal worth Rs 450 crore. The board of directors gave their approval for the plan in Mumbai on Friday.

In another major decision, the board decided to revive the $2 billion Medium Capacity Long Range (MCLR) aircraft contract. The feasibility study for this contract will be submitted in another three months.

Besides, the bigger aircraft, which the air carrier was considering for the MCLR contract earlier including the Boeing 777, Airbus A 340 and the MD 11, it will also consider a smaller aircraft for the deal now, which will be Airbus A 330-200. The board's decision to purchase four new aircraft is a coup of sorts for the company top brass, as it has succeeded in bringing out the plan from the deep freeze. The plan was first drawn-up by Air India three years ago and has been in limbo ever since. Under this plan, Air India will soon purchase three 200-seater aircraft -- to be chosen between Airbus A 310 and Boeing 767. AI also got the board's nod to purchase one Boeing 747-400 aircraft, a 410-seater jumbo jet, to be used on the Gulf routes and Canada-USA sectors.

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