BOC Aviation to lease planes to SIA-Tata venture

[SINGAPORE] BOC Aviation Pte said it is in final talks to lease 20 Airbus Group NV A320 aircraft to a new Indian airline founded by Singapore Airlines Ltd and Tata Group.

"We are on schedule in terms of timing," BOC Aviation's chief executive officer Robert Martin said in an interview in Singapore on Friday. "I can say that planes that we have are ready to go in the fourth quarter."

The venture between Singapore Air and Mumbai-based Tata plans to start a full-service carrier to tap a surge in travel demand in the world's second-most populous nation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government in 2012 permitted foreign airlines to buy as much as 49 per cent in local carriers, reversing a decade-old ban on such investments.