Air India on Thursday accomplished a 50% refurbishment of the narrowbody fleet it inherited after privatization, with 27 of its A320neo jets that includes upgraded interiors together with new seats, in-flight leisure methods, carpets and charging ports.
The airline has owned 27 A320 neos and 23 A320 CEOs since earlier than privatization, and has a narrowbody plane fleet that’s primarily used on home routes and short-haul worldwide flights. The remaining 23 models shall be refurbished subsequent yr.
Nevertheless, from 2022 onwards, Air India has added 14 new A320 neos and one other 63 A320s and A321s via its merger with Vistara in November final yr.
The corporate mentioned in a press assertion that the 27 improved narrowbody plane shall be used on 3,024 weekly flights on 82 home and short-haul worldwide routes.
The narrow-body improve was a part of the primary section of the airline’s US$400 million legacy plane fleet refurbishment program. The second section of the improve will start in July 2025 with 27 Boeing 787s and is predicted to be accomplished by mid-2027.
Beginning in early 2027, Air India plans to retrofit a further 13 of its legacy Boeing 777-300ER plane, that are primarily used for flights to the US. That is focused for completion by October 2028, however the schedule has modified as a consequence of provide chain delays.
These plane shall be used for flights to Europe, the Far East and Australia. The airline has a complete fleet of 187 plane, together with 60 widebody plane.
Since privatization, new widebodies added to Air India, the full-service arm of the group that additionally contains low-cost airline Air India Categorical, embrace six new A350s and 14 Boeing 777s leased from varied airways.
It plans so as to add widebody plane each six weeks subsequent yr, together with two A350s. Nevertheless, 5 of these 777s may even be returned to Delta.
