air india will buy 250 airbus planes in a deal aimed at transforming the former national carrier it said tuesday after decades as a monumental burden on the public purse the airline will purchase 210 narrowbody a320neo jets and 40 longhaul a350 aircraft in an ambitious plan to capture domestic market share and fashion indian airports into global travel hubs we are going through a massive transformation said air india chairman n chandrasekaran announcing the deal with french president emmanuel macron and indian prime minister narendra modi in virtual attendance one of the most important things is a modern fleet which can perform for all routes air india was founded by tata group in 1932 and the indian government bought a majority stake after independence but by the end of the century the venture was struggling to compete with gulf carriers and nofrills airlines starved of investment and racking up billions of dollars in losses that dragged on the public purse tata  also chaired by chandrasekaran  finally bought it back in a 24 billion deal a year ago today is a historic moment for india for air india and for airbus said airbus chief executive guillaume faury the magnitude of the air india order demonstrates the appetite for growth in the indian aviation industry he added air india remains the countrys largest international carrier but its domestic market share stood at only 86 percent in september the carrier is aiming to take a 30 percent domestic share by the end of 2027 while expanding its fleet to cover more international routes according to several estimates india will need over 2000 aircraft in the next 15 years said modi this historic announcement will help in catering to this increasing demand macron said the deal highlighted the bond between paris and new delhi i want to tell everybody that for me this very important contract and this achievement today is one of the milestones of the indepth strategic and friendly partnership we have between india and france he said new zealander campbell wilson was appointed air indias first foreign chief executive last may to overhaul operations and return it to profitability but the airline faced an onslaught of criticism for its response to a wells fargo executive who was allowed to disembark as normal after allegedly urinating on an elderly woman aboard a flight from new york late last year