Tag Archives: Air India

Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India, has indicated that the global aircraft shortage, caused by supply chain issues affecting manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus, is expected to persist for another four to five years. This situation has impacted Air India’s expansion plans, leading to the operation of older aircraft and increased maintenance costs.

René de Monchy, Chief Executive, Tourism New Zealand, said, “India is one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing markets, with holiday visitor numbers experiencing double-digit growth. We are focused on enhancing our commercial ties through improved connectivity and high-impact campaigns.” Meanwhile, O and Air New Zealand signed an MoU to explore the potential for direct connectivity.

Air India and Lufthansa Group have expanded their codeshare partnership, between Air India, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). The 60 codeshare routes under the agreement will be operated by the four airlines across 12 Indian and 26 European cities. After agreement, the total number of codeshare routes between Air India, Lufthansa and SWISS has increased from 55 to 100. Additionally, the new agreement between Air India and Austrian Airlines adds 26 codeshare routes.

The Indian aviation industry is growing in potential, and there is a rising demand for skilled talent to support this exponential growth. Air India recognises this need and is making significant strides by investing in the training and development of aviation professionals across various domains. Redefining aviation training with the Air India Training Academy Sprawled across 600,000 sq. ft, the Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, is South Asia’s largest aviation training institution. The academy is poised to train over 50,000 Air India professionals in the coming years, encompassing a wide spectrum of roles including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, and security personnel. With a strong focus on creating immersive learning experiences, the curriculum seamlessly blends both classroom training and practical application to foster industry-ready aviation professionals. Air India is also in the process of setting up over 20 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) bays within the academy to support the airline’s existing and future Airbus and Boeing fleet and ensure crew readiness ahead of aircraft deliveries. Cultivating a strong talent pool of pilots through the Flying Training Organisation (FTO) Air India is proactively addressing the growing demand for skilled pilots with its upcoming Flying Training Organisation (FTO) in Amravati at Maharashtra Airport Development Company’s airport. With a target to graduate 180 commercial pilots every year, it not only aims to strengthen Air India’s pilot pool but also contribute to India’s overall aviation landscape. This state-of-the-art flying school – which is South Asia’s largest and the first by any Indian airline in the country – boasts of digitally enabled classrooms as well as world-class hostels ensuring a conducive environment for young adults aspiring to pursue a career in aviation. Air India has …

Air India announced that it will resume its non-stop services between Delhi and Tel Aviv from 2 March 2025. The flag carrier will operate 5x weekly to Tel Aviv, using its Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that offers 18 flat beds in Business Class and 238 spacious, cushioned seats in Economy Class.

Air India’s booth will feature Business Class and Premium Economy seats of its A320 aircraft Visitors can get a glimpse of Air India’s brand new A350 product at the Virtual Reality (VR) zone Air India, India’s leading global airline, is set to showcase its premium cabin product and in-flight offerings at the upcoming Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) 2025, Asia’s premier and most influential travel trade show, scheduled to take place from 30 January to 1 February 2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre, BKC, Mumbai. Taking inspiration from Air India’s signature design philosophy, the exhibition booth has been conceptualised with ‘The Vista’ as an integral part of its structure, blending aesthetics with immersive digital experiences. The pavilion will showcase various aspects of Air India’s transformation journey, captivating audiences with a live demonstration of Business Class and Premium Economy seats that are today available on Air India’s newly retrofitted A320 family aircraft. These aircraft come with subtle cabin mood lighting, spacious legroom and wider pitch, and modern features, like portable electronic device (PED) holders and USB ports to charge mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets, among others. Visitors will be able to experience the seats in real-time while also getting a glimpse of Air India’s brand new A350 product at the Virtual Reality (VR) experience zone. In addition, Air India will also display a selection of in-flight meals to showcase its refreshed menus and enhanced dining experience onboard. “OTM 2025 presents a significant platform for Air India to engage and deepen ties with more than 40,000 key trade visitors from across the globe while highlighting the milestones of our transformation journey. With the Air India pavilion featuring unique activations and immersive …

Air India on Monday (9 December) confirmed that it has placed an order to purchase 100 more Airbus aircraft, comprising 10 widebody A350 and 90 narrowbody A320 family aircraft, including A321neo. These 100 new aircraft are in addition to the company’s orders of 470 aircraft that was placed with Airbus and Boeing last year.

Travelport is the leading distributor of Air India content globally for travel agencies. NDC content to be available on Travelport+ in the fourth quarter of this year. Travelport, a global technology company that powers travel bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide, and Air India, India’s leading global airline, announced that they are accelerating the launch of NDC content and servicing for Travelport-connected agencies. Travelport is the leading distributor for Air India content globally, connecting the airline to its network of travel agencies around the world via the Travelport+ platform. Agencies using Travelport+ will be able to quickly and easily view and compare the airline’s NDC offers alongside traditional content in the fourth quarter of this year. “Globally, Travelport is the leading aggregator of Air India content for travel agencies,” said Damian Hickey, Global Head of Travel Partners, Travelport. “Our partnership is centred around our shared belief that agencies are an essential retailing channel to provide travellers with seamless, personalised experiences for every trip, even after booking. That is why Travelport’s end-to-end NDC solution will empower agencies to directly service Air India bookings, so they can manage changes across NDC and non-NDC content seamlessly.” Travelport’s latest enhancement to the Travelport+ platform, Content Curation Layer (CCL), simplifies the process of accessing retail-ready content and identifying the most relevant options from airlines like Air India. Travelport’s CCL uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) to filter through aggregated multi-source content to deliver accurate search results that are standardised, making offers easier to understand and compare. This ensures that agents can then book the best options for their travellers from any source of Air India’s content, based on their unique needs …

A350 will offer a new cabin product with full-flat beds in Business, a new Premium Economy experience along with comfortable, spacious seats in Economy Guests on this flight will experience Air India’s new soft product – Vista Verve Air India will also be introducing on board Wi-Fi soon, starting with the A350 on the Delhi-London Heathrow route Air India, India’s leading global airline, has introduced its brand-new Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the Delhi-London Heathrow route. This twice-daily service is the first deployment of the ‘new Air India’ experience on long-haul flights and represents a significant milestone in the airline’s transformation program. The Air India A350 cabin product includes a fresh three-class configuration offering full-flat beds in Business, a new Premium Economy experience and the latest generation seats in Economy.  All guests enjoy the latest-generation inflight entertainment system offering more than 3000 hours of entertainment content, which will shortly be complemented by on board Wi-Fi. Guests in Business and Premium Economy will also enjoy updated amenity kits exclusively designed by Ferragamo and TUMI, as well as Air India’s new soft product – Vista Verve – with new chinaware, tableware, glassware and bedding. Completing the experience, flight and cabin crew will don, for the first time, their new Manish Malhotra-designed uniforms. Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director, Air India, said: “The deployment of the flagship A350s on the Delhi-London Heathrow route marks a significant milestone for Air India. It demonstrates Air India’s commitment to elevating the travel experience of our guests to truly world-class standards and to going beyond just meeting customer expectations as we continue to grow and renew our fleet.” Air India’s A350 aircraft feature 28 private suites with …

Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India said they have finalised the start of their retrofit program for new aircraft. “More than 100 aircraft will be refitted with new interiors, including more than 40 wide-body aircraft. We have purchased more than 25,000 seats to support this refit program which will be installed in the coming months,” he added.