New Delhi : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Friday approved a Ministry of Civil Aviation proposal allowing Air India to take delivery of 27 B-787 aircraft after signing the Delay Compensation Settlement Agreement. The decision delinks the issue relating to compensation for failure to meet performance guarantees from the Delay Compensation Settlement Agreement, which will be negotiated separately by an empowered group of officers after actual evaluation of the performance of the B-787 aircraft inducted into Air India.

Air India would benefit from the induction of the latest state-of-art technology Boeing aircraft, which are more fuel efficient than its competitors. Air India is planning to induct 27 B-787 aircraft in its fleet as part of the contracted deliveries of the aircraft from Boeing.

These aircraft were scheduled to be delivered from September 2008 to October 2011. However, due to certain design and production issues, these aircraft were delayed and are now scheduled to be delivered between June 2012 and March 2016.