Air India has unveiled its first retrofitted Airbus A320neo which is ready to return to operations.
The aircraft – VT-EXN – is the first of the 27 narrowbody aircraft inherited at the time of takeover that was elected for a complete retrofit to the new Air India standard, with new seats, carpets, curtain, cabin ambience, a three-class cabin configuration, along with a fresh coat of paint, new livery – in the new Air India branding.
Its retrofit is part of the USD 400 million retrofit programme announced by the Tata group to upgrade the airline’s entire legacy narrowbody and widebody fleet.
As part of the retrofit for all of the 27 A320neo that is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2025, the airline will be installing over 3,500 brand-new Economy Class seats, more than 600 Premium Economy seats, and 200 Business Class seats.
It has taken 450 meters of premium leather, 15,000 meters of high-quality fabric, and 4,000 meters of plush carpeting.
All the refitted A320neo aircraft features eight Business seats, 24 extra legroom seats in Premium Economy, and 132 Economy seats.
New Business Class Seats – Image, Air India
New Premium Economy Class Seats – Image, Air India
New Economy Class Seats – Image, Air India
The retrofit includes soothing interior ambience, spacious legroom, and wider seat pitch, along with modern features such as portable electronic device (PED) holders and USB ports. New carpets, curtains, upholstery, and cabin panels with fresh design motifs will reinforce the brand livery.
Deployment
VT-EXN and the remaining 26 A320neos will be operating on the domestic and short-haul international, alongside the 14 new A320neos that have been added to the Air India fleet (which have the three-cabin experience installed.
The retrofit schedule will also see more legacy aircraft, including 40 widebody Boeing 787 and Beoing 777 aircraft undergo makeover with the first Boeing 787 flying out for retrofit next month.
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