Air India is set to offer first-class seats in its large wide-body A350-1000 aircraft, aiming to expand its global network and enhance its market share in premium routes. According to Air India’s Chief Commercial Officer Nipun Aggarwal, first class remains a niche product for top airlines on key routes, and Air India sees significant opportunities in its network to offer this service.
“It is not a product that is going away. Many of the top airlines are building their next generation first class products. We are not the only ones doing it. We do feel that there are some opportunities in our network where that product will work well,” he said during a recent media briefing.
Air India’s Fleet – 202 planes, 67 wide-body aircraft and more
Air India’s current fleet includes 202 planes, 67 of which are wide-body aircraft, with 27 B777s and 40 B787s. The legacy B777s and some leased B777s are equipped with first-class seats.
“To compete with the best airlines you need to have first class, it is an aspirational product, it defines how you run and build an airline… we are putting it on A350-1000 aircraft… some of them will have the product. It takes time to develop the product,” Aggarwal added.
The large wide-body aircraft, including the A350-1000s and B777Xs, are expected to have between 325 and 400 seats, with the A350-1000 anticipated to be inducted within the next two years.
“It is important to have that product (first class) as it pulls the airline up… it will be mostly the mega cities; London, New York are good first class markets. Even if you have a private jet, you cannot fly to the US without one stop. If you have a first class product you can fly direct and reach faster,” he explained.
Air India also operates three other wide-body aircraft, the A350-900 and B787-9 (with 300-325 seats), as well as the smaller B787-8 (with 250-300 seats). The retrofit of wide-body planes, starting with Boeing 787s, will begin this year, and the retrofit of 27 legacy Airbus 320 neos is expected to be completed by mid-2025.
Air India serves approx 63 million passengers
While Air India serves approximately 63 million passengers, with the majority flying domestic or short-haul international routes, Aggarwal highlighted that nearly 80% of these passengers will benefit from retrofitted narrow-body aircraft by the second half of this year.
Regarding the performance of legacy Boeing 777 aircraft, Aggarwal acknowledged there have been multiple instances of delays, cancellations, and technical issues, particularly on ultra-long-haul flights. He assured, however, that the airline is carefully monitoring these planes and keeping a buffer in the deployment.
“We are watching every month and as and when we are confident about the aircraft performance, we will utilise them more. Till the time we have that confidence, we are keeping some buffer in the deployment so that if the aircraft goes down, we have alternatives available with us with which we can still maintain the flight,” he said.
Air India retrofitting Boeing 777s, expanding wide-body fleet
The retrofit of the legacy Boeing 777 aircraft will begin early next year, with the airline continuing to explore ways to expand its wide-body fleet.
“Whenever we take such wide body capacity from the market, it comes with an old product… It has its own challenges and harmonising those aircraft and integrating those aircraft into your fleet, network has its own challenges,” Aggarwal noted.
Air India’s corporate product and loyalty program
Regarding the corporate product and loyalty program, Aggarwal mentioned that the airline has revamped its corporate pricing structure and is in discussions with corporate clients to address their needs more comprehensively.
“With the merger of Vistara, that number is improving further because of the ring fencing we have done on the metro-to-metro route and the experience is there now is much better than what we had pre-merger,” he said. He also revealed that a common group loyalty program will soon include Air India Express customers, and the current “Maharaja Club” has over 10.3 million members.