NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) has invited eight global aerospace companies to bid for co-producing 56 medium transport aircraft to replace its aging fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s originally built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). The deal mandates that the first 16 aircraft will be directly procured in flyaway condition from the chosen vendor, which will then have to partner with an Indian company that will manufacture the remaining 40. Out of those 40, 16 must comprise 30% indigenous components, while 24 must contain 60%.

Air India has decided to sell five of its Boeing 777-200LR aircraft and replace 19 aging Airbus A320s with new leased airplanes. The widebodies were procured for ultra-long-range, non-stop operations between India and the U.S. But, due to the steep increase in fuel prices, some of Air India’s ultra-long routes—such as Bengaluru to San Francisco—never began service. “It was found that the yield from non-stop routes of Boeing 777-200LR was poor,” says junior Civil Aviation Minister K C Venugopal.

Air India expects to resume commercial operation of its six Boeing 787-8s in June. Late on May 7, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation lifted a grounding order on the type after a joint team of Air India and Boeing officials briefed the regulator on the successful installation of a new battery system on one of the aircraft, a Civil Aviation Ministry spokesman says. Technical experts from Boeing also are making the necessary modifications to the remaining 787 aircraft, the spokesman adds.