The decision comes in light of the fact that the airline's aircraft acquisition plan has been hanging fire for some time now. However, with international carriers eating into the national carrier's marketshare, A-I is not in a position to wait for the new aircraft to join its fleet.

V Thulasidas, chairman & managing director of A-I said: "We have decided to take 20 planes on lease for immediate use because our acquisition plan will take some time to materialise. This is to prepare ourselves for the peak winter season."

The airline's aircraft buying plan envisages acquisition of over 50 planes in two phases. These will be inducted over four-five years after the plan is approved by the government and orders are place with aircraft manufacturers.

A-I intends to acquire 28 aircraft (10 long range Airbus 340-300 and 18 short range Boeing 737-800s) at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore in Phase I.

It plans to buy more than 25 long-range planes in the second phase after it decided to pass on the 18 medium-capacity short-range aircraft (Boeing 737-800s) it had planned on acquiring in the first phase of its aircraft acquisition programme, to Air-India's low cost arm, Air-India Express. The airline intends to double its capacity in the next two-three years.