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In the world of Miles & Points, Air India might be synonymous with outdated aircraft, inconsistent service, and asking passengers to sign broken seat waivers onboard. However, Air India has been acquiring new aircraft in recent years and is undergoing a major transformation to improve the passenger experience following its privatization.
In my humble opinion, Air India’s new business class is actually something to get excited about and through the course of this article, my goal is to convince you of the same.
Air India’s Transformation
Air India has (multiple times) announced plans to become a world-class airline and for India to be one of the largest aviation markets in the world for connecting passengers, the same way Middle Eastern carriers are. We know Air India wants more aircraft because Air India is currently leasing Delta Boeing 777-200LRs and Etihad 777-300ERs.
Let’s look at Air India’s ongoing and future plans:
- Investing $400+ million in retrofitting the interiors of all its Boeing 777-300ERs and older Boeing 787-8s with brand new first and business class seats
- Ordered 30 additional Boeing 737 Max and converted 15 A321neo to A321XLRs (indicating more capacity)
Air India has 600 firm aircraft orders, with approximately 542 outstanding. Put simply, Air India is acquiring many new planes, and these new planes will have brand-new cabins.
Newly-delivered B787-9 business class
On the soft product side, Air India is actively retraining crew with a customer-first mindset to provide a consistent, premium experience, and I’d say that’s already happening today. I have two friends who have flown with Air India on their ex-Aeroflot A350 business class, and both gave me raving reviews, claiming it is on par with EVA and close to (gasp) Qatar.
Anshul flew Air India First Class on its 777 last year and said the soft product exceeded expectations, with warm service and excellent food.
So What are the New Seats Like?
In a notable twist, Air India will feature multiple business class seat types across retrofitted planes, new deliveries, aircraft acquired from Aeroflot and Vistara, and aircraft leased from Delta and Etihad.
To start, the Boeing 787-8s being retrofitted and the newly delivered Boeing 787-9 both feature the Elevate Ascent product. This product is pictured above and features reverse-herringbone seats with sliding doors. The Boeing 787-9s from Vistara will retain their existing interiors.
Moving on to the A350, the A350s already flying acquired from Aeroflot will keep their existing interiors, while not-yet-delivered A350s will feature the Recaro R7 business class seat, a staggered seat Iberia and LATAM are also using.
Ex-Aeroflot A350 business class
Regarding the Boeing 777s, Air India is introducing a new first class as part of its retrofit, and business class will feature the Collins Aerospace Elevation product. Before the full retrofit, these Boeing 777s are receiving an interim cabin refresh (already underway). The Boeing 777s from Delta and Etihad will remain unchanged across all cabin classes.
Therefore, you will want to pay close attention to your aircraft type on Air India over the next couple of years to ensure you’re on either a new or a retrofitted plane.
In a few years, I expect 2030 onwards (given retrofitting and aircraft delivery delays are common), Air India’s fleet should be fantastic, and I look forward to the day Air India’s transformation reaches completion.
Book Air India with Aeroplan
It’d be amiss not to write this blog post without explaining how to book Air India business class with points. At this time, you’ll want to target Air India’s A350 and the newly delivered 787-9 business class for the best onboard experience, with new seats and excellent soft product. Here is the A350 network:
Booking Air India’s A350 business class between Delhi and New York will cost 90,000 Aeroplan points one-way in business class, and you can shave a few points off if you start the trip in Bangkok, as you’ll be originating in the Pacific Zone of Aeroplan’s award chart.
More importantly, award space is readily available!
The only downside is that Air India releases only one business-class seat on these routes, but the upside is that it releases consistently at the end of the calendar year, so you can reliably book it.
As for Boeing 787-9, Air India took delivery of this aircraft just weeks ago and is flying it exclusively on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route.
As this route was just released, the calendar really is wide open (but again, with 1 business class seat).
Note that Air India does have other ex-Vistara Boeing 787-9 aircraft, but only the Mumbai-Frankfurt route features the newly delivered Boeing 789 with the brand-new business class cabin.
Anshul was able to book Mumbai-Frankfurt-New York-Toronto featuring Air India’s new Boeing 787-9 and Singapore Airlines business class on the Frankfurt-New York for a total of 110,000 Aeroplan points, the standard saver price should award space be available.
Takeaway
Air India is in the midst of a brand transformation like no other and is well on their way with new Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s with excellent business class seats and a newly-trained crew ready to deliver a fantastic experience. Over the next few years, pay close attention to your aircraft type to ensure you’re on a plane with new business seats.
You can book Air India business class with Aeroplan points for just 90,000 points one-way between Delhi and New York, or 60,000 points between Mumbai and Frankfurt. Fly all the way from Mumbai to Toronto via Frankfurt for just 110,000 Aeroplan points.
