Air India will offer close to 1,000 premium economy class seats to passengers daily, as the airline aims to retrofit 85% of its narrow body aircraft by the second half of 2025.
“We serve around 63 million customers, most of whom fly domestic or short-haul routes on our narrow-body fleet. Narrow-body aircraft make up two-thirds of our total capacity, while wide-body aircraft account for the rest. By the second half of this year, our entire narrow-body fleet—serving nearly 80% of these 63 million customers will be upgraded with modern, retrofitted aircraft,” Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial and transformation officer of Air India said.
“This means that 80-85% of Air India passengers will experience a significantly improved product, marking a major transformation for the airline,” he added.
Air India has 120 narrow body aircraft (flying to short haul routes). Seventy of the narrow body aircraft belonged to Vistara (which are already in good shape) and Air India had 50 aircraft out of which 41 will be retrofitted by June this year. Another nine narrow bodies (which are A321 CEO aircraft) will be retrofitted in another 12 months, the airline said.
“Out of the 41 A320neo legacy aircraft, 14 of them have been retrofitted, 27 will be done by the middle of this year. Once these legacy aircraft are retrofitted almost the entire Air India’s narrow body fleet, would have been modernised,” Aggarwal said, adding that all “retrofitted aircraft will have three class configurations (business, premium economy and economy class)”.
{{/usCountry}}“Out of the 41 A320neo legacy aircraft, 14 of them have been retrofitted, 27 will be done by the middle of this year. Once these legacy aircraft are retrofitted almost the entire Air India’s narrow body fleet, would have been modernised,” Aggarwal said, adding that all “retrofitted aircraft will have three class configurations (business, premium economy and economy class)”.
{{/usCountry}}These aircraft will have 24 premium economy and eight business class seats.
Until the entire Air India fleet is modernised and retrofitted, the airline has chosen to prioritise Vistara aircraft on key corporate and premium routes. However, as the Air India upgrades are completed, its retrofitted aircraft will gradually be introduced on these prime routes as well.
The airline is also set to commence retrofitting of its 40 widebody jets starting this year and the first 787-9 should rolled out in the later part of the year, the official indicated.
The airline’s plan of retrofitting their widebody aircraft that fly on long haul and ultra long haul routes has been delayed because of supply chain issues and challenges that seat manufacturers are facing globally, the airline official said.
“We are a full-service airline aiming to become a world-class carrier, and we see great potential in this segment. Revenue growth in the back cabin (economy class) has been 1.6 times, while the front cabin (business and premium economy class) has grown by 2.3 times. This success comes from better pricing, enhanced airport and in-flight experiences, improved meal quality, and an overall stronger brand perception,” he said.