Air India just inducted its first Boeing 787-9 in the Air India Skin, and the aircraft is now flying between Mumbai and Frankfurt. The airline has at least three more Boeing 787-9 aircraft that are expected to join the fleet, apart from the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which are undergoing retrofits, and 2 are expected to join back within the month of February 2026 itself
Air India plans to operate the 787-8/787-9 aircraft to Canada and London Heathrow.
While Air India has not officially announced it, filings have been made in the schedule for Northern Summer 2026, which were picked up by AeroRoutes, which tracks such changes. The changes indicate that the new Boeing 787-9s will head on the following routes in the coming months.
The airline will operate the brand-new 787-9 on flights between Delhi and London Heathrow for three months, from May to June 2026, on the rotation AI2015 / AI2016, which is currently operated with a Vistara Boeing 787-9.
Delhi – London Heathrow 02MAY26 – 30JUL26 AI2015/2016
From August 2026, by which time the airline will presumably receive one more Boeing 787-9, it will use two 787-9s to operate 10 weekly flights between Delhi and Toronto, via Vienna on the outbound flight.
Delhi – Toronto
AI187 DEL0135 – 0640VIE0800 – 1050YYZ 789 D
AI189 DEL1200 – 1715VIE1835 – 2145YYZ 789 357
AI190 YYZ0020 – 0150+1DEL 789 146
AI188 YYZ1150 – 1320+1DEL 789 D
The current operational flight between Mumbai and Frankfurt with the 787-9 will continue. However, effective July 1, 2026, one of the Mumbai-London Heathrow rotations will also switch to a Boeing 787-9.
Mumbai – London Heathrow eff 01JUL26 AI131/130
Air India’s retrofit 787-8 Business Class
Air India to induct the Boeing 787-8 (refurbished) to Europe
With the yet-to-be inducted Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which were taken out for retrofit and are yet to return to flying duties, the airline plans to send them to London Heathrow. The airline will use two 787-8 aircraft to get the Delhi / Bangalore / Mumbai markets exposed to the retrofit 787-8.
Delhi – London Heathrow 01APR26 – 31MAY26 AI2017/2018
Mumbai – London Heathrow eff 30JUN26 AI129/128
Bangalore – London Heathrow eff 01AUG26 AI133/132
Bottomline
Air India’s 787-8/9 aircraft will soon start flying through Canada and the UK as the airline harmonises flights with the new product in these markets. This will result in some 777s getting freed up, with which other routes are intended to be upgraded as well.
What do you make of the upcoming changes to the Air India fleet? Book your tickets on the Air India website, here.
Liked our articles and our efforts? Please pay an amount you are comfortable with; an amount you believe is the fair price for the content you have consumed. Please enter an amount in the box below and click on the button to pay; you can use Netbanking, Debit/Credit Cards, UPI, QR codes, or any Wallet to pay. Every contribution helps cover the cost of the content generated for your benefit.
(Important: to receive confirmation and details of your transaction, please enter a valid email address in the pop-up form that will appear after you click the ‘Pay Now’ button. For international transactions, use Paypal to process the transaction.)
We are not putting our articles behind any paywall where you are asked to pay before you read an article. We are asking you to pay after you have read the article if you are satisfied with the quality and our efforts.
Leave a Reply