Air India has often made the headlines in recent years. Unfortunately, in most cases, for negative reasons. A difficult period that the company would like to put behind it once and for all since its acquisition by the powerful Tata conglomerate. Tata's acquisition put an end to 69 years of public company status for the carrier.
Air India seems to have regained its dynamism. In September, the airline presented its transformation plan. The plan covers the next five years and should enable Air India to become a world-class international airline once again, without abandoning the best of the Indian tradition.
The transformation has already begun. The carrier has just confirmed the lease of 30 new aircraft: 21 Airbus A320neos, 4 Airbus A321neos for the short/medium-haul network. At the same time, the company will receive 5 Boeing B777-200LR for long-haul routes. These aircraft will be added to the long-haul fleet between December 2022 and March 2023. The Boeing B777s will initially fly on routes between India and the United States before being introduced on European routes.
Additional flights to the UK
The new aircraft will include a Premium Economy class for the first time. However, no details have been revealed about the cabin configuration or the seat selected for the Premium Eco.
With the new aircraft and this Premium Eco class, Air India hopes to return to best-in-class in customer service, technology, products, reliability and hospitality.
The carrier has also announced a significant increase in its presence in the United Kingdomits leading European market. With the introduction of the winter timetable at the end of October, Air India is adding 5 additional flights per week from Birmingham - 3 to Delhi and 2 to Amritsar. The company will also be offering from London-Heathrow 9 additional flights per week. The schedule includes 5 additional flights a week to Mumbai (Bombay), three to Delhi and one to Ahmedabad. All in all, London will be linked to seven Indian cities this winter per non-stop flight.
