Last year, Air India revealed its new branding, and since then, it has put six new A350 aircraft into service. The airline has also been inducting many A320/A321neo aircraft, although these have been from the order books of various lessors that the airline contracted with before placing its own order of 470 aircraft for Air India and Air India Express.
The airline has been largely working with old seats, sometimes extracted from other aircraft, and fitted on these aircraft while finalising the new cabin product, which was going to include the Premium Economy cabin as well.
Air India installs new cabin products on 2 A320neo aircraft.
Air India has unveiled a three-class configuration on its newly-inducted narrowbody aircraft. Air India’s A320neo aircraft will now offer a new Business, an all-new Premium Economy and a new Economy cabin experience on domestic and short-haul international routes.
To start, Air India has refitted two new A320neo aircraft – VT-RTW (delivered in February 2024) and VT-RTZ (Delivered in May 2024) – in a three-class configuration featuring 8 seats in Business (2×2), 24 extra legroom seats in Premium Economy (3×3) and 132 seats in Economy. With this, Air India introduces Premium Economy cabins for the first time on narrowbody aircraft. To start with, over 50 Airbus A320 aircraft are in the queue for this new product, including the ones already received via the lessor order (retrofit) and the ones that will arrive as a part of Air India’s own order (line fit).
Collins Aerospace is the seat supplier for the narrowbody fleet’s retrofit. Seats in all three cabins combine unique ergonomic contouring and a comfort system to offer passenger comfort. All seats are equipped with literature pockets, charging ports, tray tables and coat hooks, prioritising guest comfort.
Air India’s new Business Class: the MiQ
Air India has gone with the industry workhorse, the Collins Aerospace MiQ, for its narrowbody business class cabin, which we will see a lot of in the domestic flights of Air India. This seat was previously chosen by Jet Airways for their 737 MAX and by Vistara as well. The new Business cabins offer feature-rich 40-inch ergonomic seats with deep 7-inch recline, an adjustable armrest, footrest, calf rest and backrest, a tray table deployed at the push of a button that includes a PED holder and is extendable and multiple charging ports.
Air India’s new Business Class on board their A320neo
Air India’s new Premium Economy & Economy Class: the Meridian
For Premium Economy, Air India has chosen Collins Aerospace’s Meridian platform. The Premium Economy platform will provide larger seats with superior upholstery, a four-way headrest, a wider 32-inch seat pitch with a 4-inch recline, and other amenities, such as a PED holder and USB charging port. Each aircraft will feature four rows of Premium Economy, with 3×3 seats on both sides.
Air India’s new Premium Economy Class onboard their A320neo
With more meal options, including an expanded food and drink selection, served in upgraded crockery and cutlery, Premium Economy promises a superior travel experience, says Air India. For an insight into Air India’s menu planning, look at my previous Air India Premium Economy experience here.
The same platform, Meridian, is being used for the economy cabin. Economy seats are ergonomically designed with comfortable upholstery, a 28-29-inch seat pitch, a 4-inch recline, and legroom. They also come with features such as a PED holder, tray table, USB charging port, and a coat hook. Twenty-five rows of 3×3 seats will populate the economy cabin.
Air India’s new Economy Class onboard their A320neo
The new configuration will have two more seats than Air India’s existing two-class layout of 162 seats. A number of the airline’s A320neos are configured in a single-class layout of between 180 and 186 seats.
At the moment, there is no in-flight entertainment available, but I imagine a streaming service should be on offer sooner than later. Some people complained on social media about the lack of a screen, at least for Business Class. Unfortunately, an IFE system is not just the screen; it also includes many other components that plug into the aircraft, carry weight, and need maintenance. So, while it is one thing for an airline to install seatback entertainment on their widebody aircraft, on 2-3 hour trips, they can just offer streaming IFE solutions.
Air India’s A320neo retrofit plans
The rollout of a premium economy product comes amid Air India’s ongoing merger with Vistara, the first airline to introduce premium economy seats to its fleet of A320 family aircraft in India.
Air India has plans to introduce the three-class configuration to its entire full-service narrowbody fleet over the next year. Existing aircraft are now being progressively inducted for refit, while new aircraft joining the fleet will be delivered with the new Air India experience.
On the occasion of the launch of the new cabin product, Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India, said,
The introduction of a three-class cabin to Air India’s narrowbody fleet and commencement of interior refits are important steps in the journey of enhancing the flying experience. The upgrade of the narrowbody fleet, which operates on domestic and short-haul international network, complements the upgraded widebody experience now available on our A350 fleet and new B777s, and on all other widebodies as they are refitted over the next two years. This comprehensive upgradation of Air India’s physical product is an important component of transforming into a world-class airline.
Air India has recently postponed retrofitting its 787/777 aircraft to next year due to the “supply chain” being squeezed. The first aircraft, a Boeing 787-8, was supposed to go into the shop for retrofit just about now.
New Air India product to be launched on July 1, 2024.
Air India announced that the new product will be available on the Delhi – Bengaluru and Delhi – Chandigarh rotations as per the following schedule, effective July 1, 2024. Tickets are available on AirIndia.com.
Overall, Air India has a good product with its A320neos. I guess the A321s will have a different product, but that is a discussion for another day.
Bottomline
Air India has fitted two A320neo aircraft with its new 3-cabin product. For the A320neo family, seats will be supplied by Collins Aerospace, with Meridian being the platform for Economy/Premium Economy and MiQ being the platform for Business Class. Over the next year, AI intends to convert its A320 fleet into a three-class product as a full-service offering wherever it intends to fly these planes. The entry into service will be on July 1, with flights to Bengaluru.
What do you think of the Air India A320neo product?
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These cabin upgrades are to be welcomed and they are definitely a step above what was there previously..
Hopefully the retrofitting for the Airbus 320 continues smoothly and then we should have the cabin upgrades for the 777/787 soon too
But in the process of upgrading they have also taken away certain things:
– Business class seats are reduced from 12 to 8
– Economy class seats have been reduced to accomodate for premium economy class seats
– Economy class seats seat pitch reduced to 29 inches now
So even though they are giving something..they are taking something too in the process..
Fewer J class seats would mean more challenge in searching for award availability..
And also seat pitch getting reduced to 29 inches is also not exactly positive..
Even before privatization Air Indias main USP was the generous seat pitch and baggage
They have made changes to the baggage policy and now they have reduced seat pitch
It was only a matter of time though..
@Ashish, before privatisation AI was also not profitable, and now AI hopes to make a profit some day because of these changes.
They don’t HAVE to compete now in the domestic sector. It’s going to become a monopoly for domestic full service and will only compete with 6E on the market share. No competition in prem eco/business class too after the merger (until Indigo reveals it’s J cabin)
AI should also look at improving service. As of now it’s far behind even Vistara forget SQ