Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday indicated that a decision on purchase of Airbus by Air-India and Indian Airlines is likely to be taken during the current visit of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin to the country.

"Talks are going on and we hope some decision would be taken soon on this," Vajpayee told reporters after the ceremonial welcome accorded to his French counterpart on the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday morning.

Asked whether a decision in this regard will be taken during the course of the visit of the French prime minister, he merely said: "Maybe."

During his stay in Bangalore where he had witnessed the Aero India 2003 air show, the French leader had referred to the bid by Airbus Industrie to renew the aging fleets of Indian Airlines and Air-India describing it as 'a true industrial partnership' which had been extended by the involvement of Indian engineers in the construction of the future A-380, the largest passenger aircraft ever developed.

Raffarin had hoped that the decision by the board of Indian Airlines to opt for 43 Airbus aircraft would soon become 'official' describing the Indo-French partnership in the aviation sector as 'a relationship between equals.'