Air India fleet

As of June 2024, Air India operates a fleet of both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft with a fleet consisting of Airbus A319, A320, A320neo, A321, A321neo, A350 as well as the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787, making for a total of 138 aircraft.

Fleet development

In 1932, Air India started operations with the De Havilland Puss Moth aircraft. On 21 February 1960, Air India International inducted its first Boeing 707 named Gauri Shankar (registered VT-DJJ), thereby becoming the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet. In 1971, the airline took delivery of its first wide-body aircraft, a Boeing 747-200B named Emperor Ashoka (registered VT-EBD). In 1986, Air India introduced its first Airbus aircraft, an Airbus A310-300. On 4 August 1993, Air India took the delivery of its first Boeing 747-400 named Konark (registered VT-ESM). Indian Airlines introduced the Airbus A320 family of aircraft in 1989 and the smaller Airbus A319s in 2005, which are now used by Air India on domestic and regional routes, respectively. On 11 January 2006, Air India announced an order for 68 jets – 8 Boeing 777-200LR, 15 Boeing 777-300ER, 18 Boeing 737-800 and 27 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. The eighteen Boeing 737s ordered were later transferred to Air India Express when Air India took delivery of the Dreamliners. After the merger with Indian Airlines in 2007, Air India inducted the Airbus A321 in its fleet to operate mainly on short-haul international routes and leased the Airbus A330s to operate on medium-haul international routes.

The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 777-200LR aircraft on 26 July 2007, which was named Andhra Pradesh, and the first Boeing 777-300ER on 9 October 2007, which was named as Bihar. The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one Boeing 747 in March 2009 for US$18.75 million, due to debts. It also sold five of its eight Boeing 777-200LR aircraft to Etihad Airways in December 2013. Air India received its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on 6 September 2012, commencing flights on 19 September 2012, which along with 777s, have since replaced the aging and fuel-inefficient 747s in the fleet of international routes. On 21 April 2014, Air India decided to sell its remaining three Boeing 777-200LRs as well, citing higher operating costs. On 24 April 2014, Air India issued a tender for leasing 14 Airbus A320 aircraft for up to six years, to strengthen its domestic network.

Many years later, in December 2022, a day after the merger announcement with Vistara, it was reported that Air India would order nearly five hundred new aircraft. On 14 February 2023, Air India announced an order for 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing consisting of 210 A320neo family, 40 A350, 190 737 MAX for Air India Express, 20 787-9 and 10 777-9 aircraft at a cost of US$70 billion, with deliveries beginning in late 2023. The airline announced that it would be leasing 36 aircraft, 25 narrow-body aircraft and 11 wide-body aircraft, till the delivery of the newly ordered planes. On 26 March 2023, Air India took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, albeit a leased one. As part of its fleet restructuring, Air India unveiled its new logo, livery and branding on 10 August 2023 and received its first re-branded aircraft, an Airbus A350-900, on 23 December 2023. On 22 April 2024, Air India sold four Boeing 747 aircraft to the US company AerSale, which will convert two into freighters and scrap the other two.

Current fleet

As of June 2024, Air India operates the following aircraft:

• Hover over each photo to view label detail

Former fleet

Notes

References