Etihad Airways and Cameroon Airlines have expressed interest in buying five Boeing 777-200 long-range passenger jets from Air India
Air India has put the five planes up for sale after higher jet fuel prices and a dearth of demand from Indian travellers forced it to cancel plans to operate nonstop long-distance flights to North America.
A source closely involved in the deal told The Wall Street Journal that teams from Etihad and Cameroon Airlines had already inspected the planes.
"The offers will be evaluated by the management (of Air India) and a decision will be taken soon after," said the source. "Some of the interested parties wanted the last date for bidding to be advanced from end-December so that the entire process can be expedited."
The potential value of Air India?s five 777-200 LR jets has not been disclosed.
