Loss-making By March 2024, one-third of Air India’s wide-body airline will have modern seats and in-flight entertainment systems, according to the airline, which has started a transformation plan. The airline operated by the Tata Group placed orders for 470 aircraft, including 70 wide-body models, with Airbus and Boeing earlier this year.
“of this financial year, the six new A350s, together with the 5 leased B772LRs and 9 other B773ERs we’re also inducting, will mean that our wide-body fleet will have grown in size by 30 per cent within a year,” Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said in his weekly message to the staff on Friday.
Wide-body fleet will have modern seats
A third of the whole wide-body fleet will have modern seats and in-flight entertainment systems by March 2024, he added.
“The rest of the fleet will then commence their full USD 400 million interior refits so that our hard product is up to a consistently high standard on every aircraft,” he added.
Wide-body aircraft, largely used for long- and ultra-long-haul flights, have had concerns about their seats and in-flight entertainment systems malfunctioning. The airline uses these airline mostly for flights to the US and Europe.
The airline’s A350s with Rolls Royce engines received the Letter of Type Acceptance this week from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
50 wide-body aircraft make up Air India’s 124-plane fleet. It possesses 27 B787-800s, 15 B777-300s, 8 B777-200s, while the remaining aircraft are narrow-body models.
Air India and CFM International have confirmed the purchase of LEAP engines for 400 of the airline’s new narrow-body aircraft.
210 Airbus A320/A321 Neo and 190 Boeing 737 MAX family aircraft will be powered by the engines.
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