B o e I N g s e e s t r Av e l g r o w t h A s A I r N d I A P r e PA r e s h u g e j et o r d e r

IN D I A S airlines have bounced back well beyond pre-pandemic levels, Boeing said, as Air India, the country’s national carrier, prepared to unveil an historic order for almost 500 new planes on Tuesday

The U S plane maker forecast Indian airline capacity – the number of seats on offer and a gauge of industry confidence –to be 7% higher in the first-half of 2023 than in 2019 amid a strong rebound in the world s fastest-growing market

Over the next 20 years Indian passenger traffic is expected to grow by 7% annually, requiring 2,210 new planes, Boeing said in a statement during the Aero India air show India’s former state-run carrier Air

India, now owned by Tata Group, is poised to announce a deal on Tuesday for some 470 jets, worth more than $100 billion at list prices, split between Boeing and Airbus, industry and diplomatic sources said The widely anticipated move is expected to include a major deal for FrenchU S engine maker CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and France’s Safran (SAF PA), to power more than 200

Airbus single-aisle jets included in the transaction

N o n e o f t h e c o m p a n i e s c o m m e n t e d a h e a d o f t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t s , w h i c h h a v e t r i g g e r e d h o p e s o f s i g n i f i c a n t i n d u s t r i a l s p i n - o ff s f o r l o c a l s u p p l i e r s a t t h e a i r s h o w, t h o u g h t h e c o m m e r c i a l d e a l m a k i n g i s h a p p e n i n g a w a y f r o m t h e m a i n l y d e f e n c e e v e n t On Monday, Boeing said it plans to invest about $24 million in India to set up a logistics centre for airplane parts to boost its footprint in the country that it considers as the thirdlargest domestic aviation market in the world

The Indian market is recovering rapidly and its domestic capacity has exceeded 2019 levels, with domestic traffic expected to double by the end of this decade,” Dave Schulte, Boeing commercial marketing managing director for Asia Pacific, said in a statement

Boeing expects 90% of India’s demand for new airplanes to be for single-aisle ones like the 737 MAX and competing Airbus A320neo over the next 20 years

On the military side of India’s largest air show, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HIAE NS) said it is in talks with at least four countries to sell its light-combat aircraft

Af ter more than 2 years, PTM leader Ali Wazir released from K arachi jail

KArACHI n e w S D e S k

After languishing in prison for more than two years, the MNA from South Waziristan and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir was released from Central Jail Karachi on Tuesday

The PTM leader had been in Karachi’s prison since December 31, 2020 after being arrested in various sedition cases

Confirming Wazir’s release, his counsel Qadir

Khan said that his client had been released after a court granted him bail in the final case registered against him He said Wazir was now on his way to Sohrab Goth where the PTM had arranged a reception in his honour The advocate said that the lawmaker had been arrested 26 months ago and had been languishing in prison ever since He said that whenever his client was acquitted or granted bail in one case he was booked in another in either Sindh or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khan pointed out that Wazir had been acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in one case and granted bail in three others registered against him in Karachi He further said that three cases were registered against the lawmaker in KP He said Wazir had been granted bail in two of the cases earlier and had obtained bail in the third one today ‘ J u s t i c e c a n n o t b e D e n i e D f o r e v e r’: MNA Mohsin Dawar shared a picture of Wazir after his release from Karachi’s Central Jail He earlier said that he was “very happy”