With 113 aircraft currently listed as being part of the Air India fleet, the Indian flag carrier has been working hard to modernize its collection of jets and become a more efficient airline. In recent years, Air India has been continuing to take delivery of new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, as well as A320neos from Airbus. On the other side of fleet management, the Star Alliance member has decided to officially close the books on over 50 years of Boeing 747 operations. Most recently, the carrier announced a pair of massive orders with Airbus and Boeing - orders that will hopefully assist in securing the airline's dominance in the highly-competitive Indian air travel sector.
The Air India mainline fleet at a glance
Consisting of over 100 aircraft, the Air India fleet is as follows:
- A319-100: 18
- A320-200: 9
- A320neo: 27
- A321-200: 14
- 777-200LR: 5
- 777-300ER: 13
- 787-8: 27
While our focus will be on the Air India mainline fleet, we should also mention that the airline has Air India Express as a low-cost regional subsidiary. This airline operates 26 Boeing 737-800s. Air India Express is a low-cost division of Air India and offers budget flights from its Indian bases at Kochi, Delhi, Mumbai, Mangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kozhikode, among others, to 14 international destinations, mainly to the Middle East. As we noted last year, the carrier is hoping to include even more international destinations in the years to come.
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In the process of merging
It was on January 27th, 2022 that Tata Sons, via its fully owned subsidiary, Talace, announced that it had acquired a 100% stake in Air India. At the time of this announcement, it was stated that Vistara would be merged with Air India once regulatory approval was achieved.
Despite airlines probably wishing that mergers and acquisitions could happen overnight, these processes can take months but more often several years. Indeed, it was back in late-2020 that Korean Air purchased rival legacy carrier Asiana with plans to merge operations. With plans for this merger to be complete in 2024, the airlines have had to seek approval from not just local courts but also foreign governments - including UK and European Union jurisdictions.
At the time of this article's publication, legal filings and detailed paperwork are being drafted to move the merger process along. For Air India and Vistara to merge operations, a number of groups within India must sign-off. Authorities include aviation regulator, the DGCA, as well as the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Reserve Bank of India. Additionally, the Competition Commission of India will need to certify that the merger will not affect consumer rights in the country.
Several smaller bodies, such as the Airport Authorities of India will need to be approached to clear dues and redeem balances. This entire process is expected to take up to six months.
As we alluded to earlier, an airline merger like Vistara and Air India will be subject to approval from foreign competition and anti-trust regulators as well. Airlines decide which countries to approach depending on their presence in the respective markets and, at this point in time, the owners of Air India and Vistara have identified Singapore and the EU as two jurisdictions for which they would like to secure regulatory approval. Singapore being high on the list is primarily connected with Singapore Airlines' 25.1% stake in the merged Air India-Vistara carrier.
There are many hurdles to jump, though, while not fully guaranteed, the merger process is expected to go smoothly.
Massive fleet expansion plans
In mid-February, Air India announced the most extensive fleet replacement and modernization program ever seen with two massive orders. Split 50/50 (in terms of transactional value) between Airbus and Boeing, each order boosts the planemakers' order books to the tune of $34 billion based on current market values.
Air India's Airbus order will add 210 A320neo family narrowbodies for its short and medium-haul operations, with 40 A350s for higher-capacity and long-haul services. More specifically, the order breaks down to 70 A321neos and 140 A320neos, plus six A350-900s and an impressive 34 A350-1000s. The A350 order represents the re-introduction of Airbus widebodies into the Air India fleet. The airline previously operated A300s, A310s, and A330s but these days seems to prefer operating an all-Boeing widebody fleet.
And speaking of Boeing, Air India's deal with the American planemaker is for 220 new aircraft. This order is split between 190 Boeing 737 MAX, 20 Boeing 787s, and 10 new 777X airplanes. While we know the carrier will want the mid-size 787-9 variant of Dreamliners, the deal fails to specify which MAX variants the airline will pursue. With this deal, Air India becomes the 11th named customer for the 777X, following in the footsteps of Emirates, ANA, British Airways, and others. Alongside the firm orders, Air India has secured options for an additional 70 airplanes, including 50 737 MAX and 20 787s.
Considering Air India's last major order was all the way back in 2006 for 68 jets, this recent development could be seen as long overdue. Over the years foreign carriers have eaten away at the carrier's international market share, with competition being led by the Middle Eastern giants, Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad, and European ones like British Airways, Lufthansa, and more. On the domestic front, Air India was reduced to a fraction of the market, commanding under 10% of the low-margin but high-revenue sector. Competition has been fierce - coming not just from numerous low-cost carriers, but also from full-service rival turned partner, Vistara. Things had to change quickly for the airline's survival, and this is exactly what Tata is aiming to do with its mega order.
Short-term arrivals
With extensive backlogs held by the two major planemakers, the majority of high-quantity aircraft orders are long-term deals. Air India's commitments to Airbus and Boeing are no exception. However, the carrier has been and will continue to be taking some 'new' aircraft in the short term as well, with most of these jets existing outside of mid-February's big announcement.
First, we can expect the airline to introduce the Airbus A321neo into its fleet in the very near future. In fact, a number of these airframes in Air India colors have been spotted at Airbus facilities outside Hamburg in recent weeks, with one jet taking its first flight on February 27th. Coming from an order placed in September 2022, the carrier will be taking a total of four A321neos in addition to a total of 21 A320neos which are already in the process of being delivered.
At the same time that Air India announced its near-term acquisition of A320neo family jets, it also noted that it would be taking possession of five second-hand Boeing 777-200LRs. These aircraft will actually be leased to Air India. Previously operated by Delta Air Lines, the US carrier retired its 777-200LR fleet in late 2020 and now has a mostly-Airbus widebody fleet. According to Air Insight Group, the jets will be deployed on routes from major Indian cities to the United States. With Delta refreshing the interiors of these jets in 2018, Air India is able to offer a premium economy cabin on long-haul flights for the first time. The carrier added two of these ex-Delta 777s in November 2022 and is thus expecting three more in the near future with the 'mini-order' expected to be wrapped up by March 2023.
In addition to the 777-200LRs, Air India also plans to add six more Boeing 777-300ERs by the first half of 2023.
On the Airbus side, the airline already knows which specific A350 airframes it will be operating. Indeed, the six A350-900s ordered as part of its mid-February blockbuster deal will be jets originally ordered by Russian carrier Aeroflot. With sanctions imposed on Russia making the jets now undeliverable to Aeroflot, Air India will soon accept A350s with the following manufacturer serial numbers (MSNs):
- 589
- 592
- 594
- 558
- 554
- 555
With the A350s scheduled to join the airline by the end of the year, Aerotime notes that Air India plans to use the Aeroflot cabins already installed on the jets. At a media briefing on February 27th, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air India group, Campbell Wilson noted that the decision to keep the Russian airline's cabins in the short term is due to time and supply chain constraints.
No more 747s
With the very last brand new Boeing 747 being delivered earlier this year, it seems fitting to also briefly discuss the end of Air India's own 747 operations.
Like many operators around the world, Air India grounded its Boeing 747 fleet when the pandemic struck and travel restrictions were imposed. While many were hoping that the carrier would follow in the footsteps of Lufthansa and revive its 747-400 fleet, all hope was lost when India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA, de-registered the aircraft in April 2022.
A few months later, in November 2022, Air India announced that it had chosen Skytech-AIC to help sell its four remaining 747-400s. The aircraft, aged between 26 and 30 years, have only ever flown for the airline. There were expectations that the jets would be picked up for freighter conversion by interested parties. However, with several months having passed, it doesn't look like Skytech-AIC or the airline have found buyers. Indeed, ch-aviation.com data indicates the four jets are still owned by Air India and are now marked "to be scrapped."
While United Airlines, Qantas, and many other airlines commemorated and celebrated an end to their respective 747 operations, it looks like Air India's Queens of the Skies will fade quietly and largely unnoticed. For the sake of comparison, Qantas held a special ceremony in Sydney while United Airlines operated a special farewell flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, producing a video covering the occasion (see below).
Despite Air India's jumbo jets disappearing silently without any fanfare, the airline is sure to celebrate and commemorate the arrival of its new big jets once they're delivered - particularly with types such as the Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777-9.
What do you think of Air India's current and future fleet? Which of its future jets are you most excited to fly on? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!
Sources: Planespotters.net, Air Insight Group, Aerotime
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Air India
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- AI/AIC
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1946
- Alliance:
- Star Alliance
- CEO:
- Campbell Wilson
- Country:
- India
- Region:
- Asia
