Air India to completely upgrade 27 old A320neo aeroplanes by mid-2025

"Legacy" planes have been part of Air India's fleet before the Tata Group, after privatisation, took control of the airline in January 2022

Air India on Tuesday said it would completely upgrade its 27 "legacy" A320neo planes by mid-2025, following which it would begin retrofitting 40 "legacy" widebody planes.

Legacy planes have been part of Air India's fleet before the Tata Group took control of the airline in January 2022.

The “refit project”, which has commenced now, will be coordinated by Air India’s engineering team with leading global equipment makers such as Collins, Astronics and Thales, among others, Air India said. 

“The exercise will see the installation of over 15,000 next-generation seats across premium economy, business and economy classes," it added.

The first narrowbody aircraft to be in the refit programme is VT-EXN, a single-aisle A320neo that went into the hangar on Monday.

“After prototyping and necessary regulatory approvals, VT-EXN is expected to re-enter commercial service in December 2024. It will join the eight recently-delivered and operational Air India A320neo aircraft that already feature the upgraded cabin interiors and configuration,” it added.

Following VT-EXN, between three and four aircraft per month will undergo retrofit, with the full narrowbody fleet expected to be upgraded by the middle of 2025, it added.

Air India currently operates a fleet of 142 aircraft, including approximately 60 widebody planes. The fleet also consists of 11 B777 aircraft and 25 A320 family planes leased by the airline.

Since acquiring the struggling Air India in January 2022, the group has implemented a transformation plan aimed at revamping the airline.

As part of this strategy, Air India is expanding both its fleet and network. It has begun deploying widebody A350 planes on several routes.