Air India on Thursday concluded the revamp of 50% of the narrowbody aircraft it inherited after privatisation with 27 A320neo aircraft now featuring upgraded interiors, including new seats, in-flight entertainment systems, carpets, and charging ports.
The airline has 27 A320 neos and 23 A320 ceos since before privatisation in its narrowbody fleet used primarily for domestic flying, and shorter international routes. The remaining 23 are expected to go into retrofit next year.
However, post 2022 Air India has also added 14 new A320 neos, as well as 63 A320s and A321s by virtue of its merger with Vistara last November.
The 27 revamped narrowbodies will be utilised for as many as 3,024 weekly flights on 82 domestic and short-haul-international routes, the airline said in a press statement.
The narrowbody revamp was part of phase 1 of the airline’s US$ 400 million fleet retrofit programme for older aircraft. The second phase of revamp took off in July 2025 for 27 Boeing 787 aircraft and will conclude by mid 2027.
Starting in early 2027, Air India will additionally retrofit 13 of its legacy Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which are primarily used for US flights. This is aimed for completion by October 2028, with the timeline having shifted due to supply chain delays.
These aircraft are used for flights to Europe, Far East and Australia. The airline has total 187 aircraft in its fleet, which include 60 widebodies.
Since its privatisation, the new widebodies added to Air India, which is the full-service arm within the Group that also includes budget carrier Air India Express, include six new A350s and another 14 Boeing 777s leased from various airlines.
It will also be adding a widebody every six weeks next year, including 2 A350s. However, it will also be returning 5 of these 777s to Delta Airlines.
Published – November 01, 2025 04:22 am IST
