Air India Refurbishing A320s with New Seats at AIESL

DELHI- Tata-owned Air India (AI) has started refurbishing its Airbus A320 aircraft fleet with new business and premium economy class seats.

With these, the passengers will soon be able to enjoy them on domestic and some short-haul international flights.

Air India A320 New Seats

The move comes as Air India is merging its full-service carrier Vistara Airlines (UK) by next year. This month NCLT gave the green light to the union, making it the final approval for a successful merger.

The newly refurbished Air India A320s, along with those from Vistara, will be prioritized on metro-to-metro routes and short-haul international routes with significant business traffic.

Vistara Airlines Airbus A320 aircraft have 8 business class seats, 24 premium economy seats, and 126-132 economy class seats. Air India A320s are expected to have a similar configuration. This move will align Air India’s product offerings with Vistara, which standardizes the operation and reduces costs.

“The seats will not be exactly like those on Vistara, but they will be an improvement over the current Air India domestic product. The seats will feature better cushions and more legroom,” said an executive to Hindu BusinessLine. With these upgrades, the airline aims to increase occupancy in its business class on domestic routes.

One done 39 to Go

Air India plans to reconfigure a total of 40 Airbus A320 aircraft by mid-next year.

One aircraft has already been prepared with a three-class cabin at the AI Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) facility in Delhi (DEL) and will be introduced into service once regulatory approvals are obtained.

Currently, Air India operates its A320 aircraft in either a single all-economy or dual-class (economy and business) configuration. Separate regulatory approvals are needed to modify the aircraft since Air India’s Airbus planes currently fly in different configurations.

While modifications are underway for Airbus aircraft, the refresh of legacy Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft is delayed. A senior official mentioned that discussions with the seat manufacturer are ongoing and an update on the timeline will be provided.

In December 2022, Air India announced a $400 million plan to fully refurbish its legacy Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft with state-of-the-art seats and a new in-flight entertainment system.

Further, to assist with the cabin interior design for this refurbishment program, Air India engaged leading London-based product design companies, JPA Design and Trendworks.

Although Air India is focused on expanding its long-haul network, the unreliability of its legacy planes poses a challenge. Recently, there has been a rise in cases of technical and operations issues with widebodies that serve North American and European routes.

Feature Image by (20) Eurospot (@cliper31) / X

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