Air India will introduce new first and business classes in 2019
The nation’s flag-carrier is undergoing an ambitious makeover, including a $400 million fleet-wide renovation program.
The brand-new first class suites and business class seats that Air India is creating will take flight in the middle of 2024.
The complex project’s codename is “Vihaan,” which is derived from the Sanskrit word for dawn and has the additional symbolic significance of “the beginning of a new age.”
CEO of Air India Campbell Wilson states that he is “confident that, when revealed, the new interiors will delight customers and show Air India in a new light.”
The $400 million fleet-wide refurbishment effort would update inflight entertainment “across all classes” and include premium economy, a “first” for the carrier as it targets the nation’s expanding middle-class travel market.
Wilsons believes that there is “untapped opportunity” in adding more frequent flights to European locations like Frankfurt, Paris, and the UK as well as direct flights to North America.
According to the airline, due to a “lengthy but necessary process and the time required to manufacture seats,” the first aircraft outfitted with Air India’s “next generation” product will start flying around mid-2024.
Air India, a member of the Star Alliance, has hired London-based JPA Design to perform the revamp; JPA has an extensive portfolio of clients that includes Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, The Orient Express, and Belmond Grand Hibernian.
Airbus and Boeing have recently delivered 470 new aircraft.
A massive US$70 billion purchase for 470 brand-new Airbus and Boeing airplanes that will be delivered over the course of ten years will also have the upgraded seats and suites, with options for an additional 370 aircraft. One of the biggest airplane orders ever placed,
Boeing will provide 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, ten of the yet-to-launch 777-9s, and 190 of the 737 MAX series, while Airbus will provide 40 of its long-range A350 series and 210 A320neo-family aircraft.
In addition, Wilson notes that the purchase for 70 twin-aisle aircraft “means a many-fold increase in Air India’s widebody long-haul fleet, and therefore, capacity.” Wilson claims that there are “significant opportunities in long-haul international (flights).”
It’s all a part of Air India’s comprehensive reinvention under the new ownership of Tata Group, which ironically launched the airline in 1932 before seeing it become nationalized in 1953.
The airline, which Tata purchased for US$2.4 billion in October 2021, will merge with Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, in the first half of 2024.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, states that the A350s will be used to “fly all ultra-long distance across the globe,” while Nipun Aggarwal, the chief commercial and transformation officer, asserts that the fleet will link India “non-stop” to all major cities worldwide.
According to Chandrasekaran, “Air India is going through a significant transformation.”
“This order is a crucial step in realizing Air India’s ambition… to provide a top-notch offering serving international travelers with an Indian heart,” said the airline.
