The crew comprising 4 Air India pilots completed a non-stop ferry flight of 16 hours and 58 minutes from Boeing’s Everett factory in Washington state to New Delhi.
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The new aircraft, registration VT-AWA, offers 296 seats across three classes: Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. The aircraft features bespoke cabin interiors installed directly on Boeing’s production line, the details of which will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The new 787-9 Dreamliner is expected to enter international, long-haul commercial service in February, and the schedule of operations will be announced shortly.
2026 will see 5 more widebody aircraft deliveries (Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 787-9). The new cabins of the Boeing 787-9 will become the new benchmark across Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet. In line with this, 26 of Air India’s legacy Boeing 787-8 aircraft are progressively undergoing retrofits.
The programme is well underway, with many of these aircraft scheduled to complete the process and return to service with refreshed nose-to-tail refit in 2026, including a fresh livery in the new Air India branding. By the end of this year, nearly 60% of Air India’s widebody fleet will have modern interiors.
