Jet Airways may buy 50 Boeing planes for US$2.5b

[NEW DELHI] Jet Airways (India) Ltd, the nation's second-largest airline by market share, may place an order for 50 Boeing Co aircraft worth US$2.5 billion, Bloomberg TV India reported, citing people it didn't identify.

Jet, India's biggest publicly traded carrier, may order 737 single-aisle planes, which will be used for local expansion, Bloomberg TV said in its report.

Buying new planes will enable Mumbai-based Jet Airways to expand and start more routes ahead of impending competition with Singapore Airlines Ltd and AirAsia Bhd, which have both sought to start local airlines. Indian carriers are buying aircraft from Airbus and Boeing as economic growth in the world's second- most populous nation stokes travel demand.