Air India has started its $400-million cabin retrofit program which involves revamping 67 of its current aircraft fleet.
The aircraft, 27 Airbus A320neos and 40 Boeing 777 and 787 widebody aircraft, will be fitted with the airline’s new cabin interiors.
The refit program will start with an A320neo aircraft (registration VT-EXN) and will then proceed apace with an additional three to four aircraft per month. Since it takes between two and three months to complete one aircraft retrofit, the first of these aircraft will start operating with the new cabin interiors towards December 2024.
These new narrowbody cabins have a three-class configuration, with eight business class, 24 premium economy and 132 economy class seats made by Collins Aerospace. In addition to brand-new seats and amenities, such as portable electronic device (PED) holders and USB ports, other cabin elements have been refreshed. Carpets, curtains and panels have also been updated to reflect the airline’s new corporate identity.
The retrofit is being coordinated by Air India’s own in-house engineering team.
In 2022, shortly after taking over Air India, Tata Group, the airline’s current owners, committed to a comprehensive revamp of its onboard product in order to upgrade the experience it offers to its passengers.
Air India already has eight operational A320neos, which were delivered straight from the factory with the with the new cabin interiors.
The new cabins are also being fitted onto the carrier’s new A350-900 aircraft as they roll out Airbus’ assembly line. However, the first airframes of this type to be received by Air India were still fitted with cabin interiors designed for Russian airline Aeroflot. After Airbus stopped deliveries to Russia following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Air India was able to secure some aircraft that had been produced for Aeroflot, together with the corresponding delivery slots.