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When it comes to operating flights to strategically important airports around the world, airlines often prioritize aircraft that have suitable layouts to meet passenger demands for those sectors, in addition to obvious factors such as aircraft range and capacity. When one looks at Air India’s choice of planes for its flights to Europe and North America, a clear pattern emerges: Boeing 787 Dreamliners dominate European routes, while the 777s are mostly reserved for the United States and Canada. Of course, the carrier now also deploys its Airbus A350s to flagship routes, such as those to London Heathrow and both New York JFK and Newark airports.
With 
Air India currently on a mission to re-invent itself post privatization, it’s tackling several issues that have plagued it since its days as a state-run airline – chief among them has been the issue of ill-maintained and outdated interiors, often surfacing in passenger complaints on social media. However, with many of its legacy widebody planes scheduled to be retrofitted with new cabin interiors, and dozens lined up for deliveries with custom-styled layouts, Air India expects to offer a much more pleasant experience for many of its long-haul routes, particularly to Europe in the coming months, with the first of many new line-fit Boeing 787-9s having arrived last month.
Europe Receives Most Of Air India’s Dreamliner Services
A quick glance at Air India’s route network to Europe in February, courtesy Cirium, an aviation analytics company, reveals the airline flies to 10 airports: 
London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London Gatwick (LGW), Birmingham (BHX), Amsterdam (AMS), Paris (CDG), Copenhagen (CPH), Frankfurt (FRA), Milan (MXP), Vienna (VIE), and Zurich (ZRH).
An overwhelming majority of these are operated by Dreamliners, with most of these flights originating from New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). Other than Delhi, Air India flies non-stop from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, Amritsar to Birmingham and London Gatwick, Bengaluru to London Heathrow, and from Mumbai to Frankfurt and London Heathrow.
The Delhi-London Heathrow route sees the most diverse range when it comes to the type of aircraft deployed. The airline uses its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the 777-300ER, as well as the Airbus A350 on this sector. It also deploys a 777-200LR between Delhi and Frankfurt, in addition to a 787-9 Dreamliner, and a 777-300ER from Mumbai to London Heathrow. All the rest of its flights to Europe are flown using the Dreamliners, particularly the 787-8 variant.
First Of Many Line-Fit 787-9 Dreamliners Arrived In January
While the delivery of a new aircraft doesn’t necessarily warrant a mention, the latest Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (VT-AWA) received by Air India is somewhat special. To begin with, it is the first line-fit widebody aircraft for Air India following its privatization in 2022. At the recently held Wings India airshow in Hyderabad in January, Air India showcased the new Dreamliner with its brand-new interiors.
The business class cabin accommodates 30 suites in a 1-2-1 configuration, each offering direct aisle access and a privacy sliding door. With a 42-inch (106 cm) pitch, 17-inch (43.18 cm) 4K QLED HDR touchscreen and IFE handset, Bluetooth headphone pairing, wireless charging, and Type A and Type C fast charging ports, the premium suite comes with all the features one would expect in a standard business class product of any full-service airline. It also featured a height-adjustable armrest, a cubby area with storage space that has soft lighting inside, a vanity mirror, and a feature lamp designed with Air India’s jaali pattern.
Right behind business class is a cabin dedicated to 28 premium economy seats featuring a 2-3-2 configuration. These come with a 38-inch (96.52 cm) pitch and a 7-inch (17.78 cm) recline, six-way adjustable headrest, individually adjustable calf rest, as well as a leg rest, 13.3-inch 4K QLED HDR touchscreen, Type A and Type C fast charging ports, and a bottle holder.
The remaining portion of the aircraft features a standard economy cabin with 238 seats, in a 3-3-3 configuration. Each seat has a standard 31/32-inch (79 cm) pitch and 5inch (12.7 cm) recline, an 11.6-inch (29.47 cm) 4K QLED HDR touchscreen, and Type A and C charging ports.
Where Should Air India Fly Its Airbus A350s Next?
Two years have passed since Air India first flew passengers on its Airbus A350-900s, with the launch taking place on January 22, 2024, with a flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai. It initially flew domestic services for crew familiarization, but expanded to international flights later on. Air India now has six A350-900s. They were initially supposed to be delivered to Aeroflot, but sanctions on Russia meant that these planes were up for grabs by other airlines. These jets have 316 seats across three classes.
The A350s are a significant part of the carrier’s transformation, as it tries to earn back its reputation as a world-class airline under TATA’s ownership after suffering heavy losses under the Indian government. Air India has already flown the A350 domestically on flights from Hyderabad-Mumbai, Hyderabad-Chennai, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Chennai-Bengaluru, and Delhi-Bengaluru. Internationally, it also flies from Delhi to Dubai, Delhi to London Heathrow, Delhi to New York JFK, and Delhi to
VT-AWA Is Flying Between Frankfurt And Mumbai
Air India didn’t waste much time and deployed the latest Dreamliner on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route. This was a strategic move as both cities are important economic hubs in their respective countries and see premium-paying and business travelers. A quick scan of the flight tracking app Flightradar24 shows that VT-AWA is being primarily used between Frankfurt and Mumbai, and this is a sign of things to come.
Air India’s Dreamliners fly mostly to Europe, but also to important hubs in Asia, such as Tokyo and Seoul, as well as to Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. Not only is Air India expected to receive more new Dreamliners in the coming months and years, but 26 of its legacy 787s are also being retrofitted with the same new cabin interiors and entertainment systems.
Air India’s widebody fleet (source ch-aviation)
|
Aircraft type |
Number |
|---|---|
|
Airbus A350-900 |
6 |
|
Boeing 787-8 |
26 |
|
Boeing 787-9 |
7 |
|
Boeing 777-300ER |
19 |
|
Boeing 777-200LR |
4 |
This means that passengers flying Air India to long-haul destinations in Europe, Asia, and Australia could expect to gradually and increasingly see better and updated interiors. This is important, as Air India wants to position itself as an airline that is the preferred choice of passengers flying out of India, and is trying to compete with world-class global carriers, such as Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Seat Maps – Air India – Boeing 787-8 (18J/ 241M)
What’s it like onboard Air India’s Boeing 787?
Fleet Changes To UK Flights For Northern Summer Schedule 2026
As part of Air India’s larger plan to retrofit its 26 legacy 787-8 aircraft, two are expected to return to service in the coming weeks, and several more will go through this process progressively throughout 2026. As such, Air India is eager to deploy aircraft with upgraded cabins to important European destinations as soon as possible.
The carrier has announced that from July 1, its Mumbai-London Heathrow flights will operate with a combination of its incoming new Boeing 787-9 planes and retrofitted legacy B787-8 aircraft. From August 1, its Bengaluru-London Heathrow flights will also see retrofitted B787-8 aircraft. This means that eventually, all Air India flights to and from London Heathrow will see aircraft featuring new cabin interiors.
However, the carrier will have to adjust its fleet strategy to some other UK routes. This summer, its flights to Birmingham from Amritsar and Delhi, and to London Gatwick from Ahmedabad and Amritsar, will be operated with legacy Boeing 777-300ER planes and will replace the currently deployed legacy 787-8s on these routes.
Outdated Aircraft Interior Is A Major Challenge For Air India
At the 2025 IATA Annual General Meeting held in New Delhi, India, Simple Flying got a chance to speak with Air India’s CEO Campbell Wilson. When asked what his biggest challenge in Air India’s transformative journey was, without any pause, he said, “seats.”
While there’s plenty to keep Wilson busy in his attempt to rescue Air India from its troubled past, fixing its substandard interiors and seats has, in fact, been a major challenge. A lot of it has to do with the disruption in the global supply chain that has not really fully bounced back since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Passengers taking to social media and complaining about Air India’s broken seats or in-flight entertainment system is nothing new. But the new Dreamliner is expected to herald a change that is expected to make the carrier’s long-haul flights, such as those to Europe, more pleasant for flyers in the coming months, as more of these line-fit widebodies arrive and the legacy planes are retrofitted. Mr Wilson had this to say at last month’s Wings India airshow:
“The new cabin interiors on this aircraft will soon become the standard across our entire Boeing 787 fleet as, in addition to 19 more production aircraft, all 26 of Air India’s existing Boeing 787-8 aircraft are being retrofitted with the same new cabin interiors and entertainment systems. The retrofit programme is well underway, with the first upgraded aircraft due to return to service in the coming weeks and the remainder of the fleet by mid-2027.”
Work In Progress
Indeed, it’s fair to say that Air India’s transformation is still a work in progress. Some believe that more visible improvements should have been in place by now. But many also believe that the mammoth list of problems that the Tata Group inherited from decades of neglect of the airline under government rule is simply too long for anyone to clean up in a few years.
Still, there have been some major decisions in terms of fleet and route enhancements, such as the 470 aircraft-strong order signed three years ago that includes hundreds of Airbus and Boeing narrowbody planes as well as the latest widebody aircraft from both manufacturers, including the A350s, Boeing 787s, and even the Boeing 777X.
Not only that, nearly 100 new and leased aircraft have already joined the Air India group’s fleet since privatization. This includes dozens of new Boeing 737 MAX planes for Air India’s low-cost subsidiary Air India Express. Recently, Air India also converted 15 of its current orders for Airbus A321neo aircraft to the advanced Airbus A321XLR (Extra Long Range) variant and announced a multi-year agreement with Boeing Global Services for its Component Services Program (CSP), encompassing the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, both existing aircraft and those on order.
Air India also recently unveiled ‘The Maharaja Lounge’, its first flagship lounge, at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. It includes a bar, dedicated working spaces, a “Serenity Area” that has individual recliners for guests to relax, rest, and rejuvenate, and sleep suites, among other things.
For years, Air India’s international network expansion was impaired due to a lack of new planes. But with many widebodies slated to join the carrier’s fleet in the coming years, one could expect several new routes in Europe and the United States.
Of course, this is expected to happen gradually, with the airline first trying to establish better services on its existing long-haul network without spreading itself too thin, before embarking on newer destinations. Here’s hoping that the new Dreamliner is a sign of better things to come for Air India.
