Air India completes first phase of legacy retrofit programme; 104 A320 family aircraft now feature new or upgraded cabin interiors

GURUGRAM (Haryana): Air India has announced the successful completion of the retrofit programme for its legacy A320neo fleet, with the final of 27 aircraft returning to service with brand-new cabin interiors and in the airline’s vibrant new livery. With these, combined with 14 newly delivered A320neo aircraft and those integrated following the merger of Vistara into Air India, the airline now operates 104 A320 Family aircraft, featuring new or upgraded cabin interiors, Air India said in a press release.

Commenced in September 2024 as part of a broader USD400 million initiative to modernise Air India’s entire legacy fleet, the retrofit programme for all 27 legacy A320neo aircraft has been completed within a record one-year time frame.

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.

Domestic India routes: All flights on the busiest domestic routes such as Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Hyderabad, Delhi-Bengaluru, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Chennai, Mumbai-Bengaluru, Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Chennai and Mumbai-Kolkata, in addition to many others.

Short-haul international routes: All flights to and from Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, Bali (Denpasar), Manila, Mauritius, Male (Maldives), Riyadh, Jeddah, and most flights to and from Singapore.

The retrofit programme for the 27 A320neo involved equipping all aircraft with modern cabin interiors, each in a three-class cabin configuration, ensuring a consistent, world-class inflight experience. This includes the installation of 3,564 new Economy Class seats, 648 new Premium Economy Class seats, 216 new Business Class seats, over 450 metres of premium leather and over 15,000 metres of fabric, over 5,000 square metres of carpet, enhancing cabin aesthetics and comfort and over 8,000 kg of paint, to repaint the legacy aircraft in Air India’s bold new livery.

All seats come with USB-A and USB-C ports, enabling travellers to keep their personal electronic devices charged. This also helps them in accessing ‘Vista Stream’, Air India’s on-board inflight entertainment streaming service, which offers close to 900 hours of global cinematic content on personal devices.

Air India has been consistently recording a high Net Promoter Score (NPS) of close to ranging between 45 and 50 points each month for its narrowbody aircraft operations.

Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India, said, “We continue to make good progress on the upgradation of our fleet. With over 100 of our A320 Family aircraft now featuring modern interiors, our guests will enjoy a superior travel experience across our extensive network.”

“As we mark the end of the first phase of our narrowbody retrofit, we remain committed to elevating passenger experience and offering cabin products of global standards to our guests.”

Starting in 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 aircraft, with the first of 26 aircraft (VT-ANT) 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.

Starting in early 2027, Air India will additionally retrofit 13 of its legacy Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, aiming for completion by October 2028, with the timeline having shifted due to supply chain delays. (ANI)