Air India has inducted its first retrofitted Boeing 787-7, marking the start of a wider overhaul of its older widebody fleet as the airline moves to upgrade its long-haul product. The aircraft registered VT-ANT, is the first of 26 legacy B787s slated for refurbishment. The retrofit was carried out at Boeing’s Modification Center in Victorville, California, and the aircraft was later repainted in Air India’s new livery at a certified paint facility in San Berardino.
Why is Air India retrofitting older Dreamliners?
The airline is trying to bring its older B787s closer to the standards of its newly inducted aircraft. In a video released alongside with the announcement, Raghvendra Singh, Air India Head-Inflight Product and Design, said that the aim was to harmonise the experience across both the retrofitted aircraft and the new ones,” so that passengers see the same interiors across the airline’s latest planes.
The retrofit is also part of Air India’s broader push to modernise its legacy fleet under an ongoing transformation programme.
What has changed inside the aircraft?
The biggest change is in the cabin layout. The aircraft has been moved from a two-class configuration to a three-class one, with 20 Business Class suites in a 1-2-1 layout, 25 Premium Economy seats in a 2-3-2 layout and 205 Economy seats in a 3-3-3 arrangement.
Along with new seats, the aircraft has received a new inflight entertainment system, refreshed carpets and curtains, updated wall laminates, LED lighting, upgraded overhead bin panels, overhauled galleys and lavatories and a new cabin service system.
According to Dipankar Narang, Air India Technical Services, Engineering, the work involved “a complete nose-to tail refresh of the aircraft”, including the business class cabin, overhead bins, curtains, carpets, galleys, LED lighting and lavatories.
Over 12,000 manhours for the retrofit
Air India said, “The first B787 took close to 12,825 manhours over 45 days for the retrofit, as teams progressed through a tightly choreographed workflow.” The process involved removing old interiors, installing new components, carrying out testing and installing new components.
The repainting was also extensive. The airline said that the aircraft underwent around a week and a half of surface preparation before 643.3 sprayable litres of red, white and gold paint were applied on it.
All about B787 retrofit programme
The B787 retrofit programme is part of a USD 400 million plan to upgrade Air India’s older fleet. The airline stated that 25 more B787s will undergo a similar process over the next year, with two already in process. Rahul Vij, Chief Manager, Technical Services, Engineering, has also described the exercise as being “not only about modernising the aircraft but also about ensuring reliability, safety and consistency so that plane performs smoothly flight after flight.”
Once the programme is completed by 2027, the upgraded aircraft are expected to operate on more than 300 flights a week to destinations in Australia, the UK and Europe. Air India will then move to retrofit 13 of its older B777-300ER aircraft as part of the same fleet renewal effort.