Air India completes first phase of legacy fleet retrofit programme; upgrades 27 old A320 planes with new cabin interiors

Upon Vistara’s merger into Air India, the former’s 63 narrow-body aircraft, which already sported modern interiors, were added to the Air India fleet. The cabin upgrade programme, which started in September 2024, will help the airline provide a consistent product to flyers.

Cabin refit and upgradation is part of Air India’s product transformation plan. Over the years, Air India had developed a reputation of having run-down aircraft cabins and an ageing fleet as the then government-owned airline was under severe financial stress. The Tata group acquired Air India from the government in early 2022. While the new owners have inducted various new aircraft and placed massive orders for planes to be delivered over the coming years, the poor health of legacy aircraft was a major concern for the airline which now harbours global ambitions and wants to offer a world-class product to flyers.

The retrofit programme for the 27 A320neo involved equipping all aircraft with modern cabin interiors, each in a three-class cabin configuration (business, premium economy, and economy), ensuring a consistent, world-class inflight experience,” the airline said. (Source: Special Arrangement)

“With 104 A320 Family aircraft featuring new or upgraded interiors, Air India now operates 3,024 weekly flights across 82 domestic and short-haul international routes… The retrofit programme for the 27 A320neo involved equipping all aircraft with modern cabin interiors, each in a three-class cabin configuration (business, premium economy, and economy), ensuring a consistent, world-class inflight experience,” the airline said. The three-class cabin configuration is the new standard for the airline as against its conventional two-class cabin.

With the completion of this phase of the retrofit programme, all Air India flights on the busiest domestic routes like Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Chennai, Mumbai-Bengaluru, Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Chennai, and Mumbai-Kolkata, among others will be serviced by new or upgraded aircraft. All short-haul international flights to and from Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Manila, Mauritius, Malé, Riyadh, Jeddah, and most flights to and from Singapore will also have the upgraded product.

“Starting 2026, Air India will be retrofitting 13 legacy A321 aircraft. These aircraft are being sequenced for refit and new livery together with the erstwhile Vistara fleet over the next year. Air India also commenced the widebody retrofit programme for its legacy B787-8 (Boeing 787-8) aircraft, with the first of 26 aircraft having flown to a Boeing facility in Victorville, California (United States) in July 2025. The programme, now on a steady schedule for completion by mid-2027, will introduce brand-new interiors featuring a three-class configuration with Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy Class seats,” the airline said.

From early 2027, Air India will retrofit 13 of its legacy Boeing 777 aircraft, aiming for completing the programme by October 2028. The airline had earlier hoped to complete the retrofit and upgradation of its legacy wide-body by mid-2027, but with the global aviation ecosystem still grappling with supply chain disruptions, the timeline has been shifted by more than a year.

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