Air India’s 1st Airbus A320neo With New Livery & Interiors Enters Service

Air India has deployed its latest Airbus A320neo aircraft with new livery and interiors on commercial service as it looks to enhance customer experience on domestic routes. The airline’s new aircraft are now being delivered with the new color scheme and cabins, aligning with its vision of offering world-class service.

A320neo with new livery enters commercial service

On July 18, Air India’s latest narrowbody aircraft – an Airbus A320neo – with new livery entered commercial service. The plane is configured with premium cabins, including business class and premium economy, and as previously assumed, its first flight was on the busy trunk route between Delhi and Bengaluru, where demand for such seats is high.

Photo: Air India

The A320neo – registered VT-RTN – took off as flight AI 813 from Delhi at 08:22 this morning and landed in Bengaluru at 10:43 after a flight of two hours and 22 minutes, per Flightradar24. The airline is putting the plane to good use and has three more flights scheduled today on the same sector. At the time of writing, it was on its second flight of the day, flying back to Delhi as flight AI 507.

Simple Flying has been tracking Air India’s A320neo in the new colors for a few months now. In May, it was spotted featuring the new livery as it rolled out of the hangar in Toulouse at the Airbus facility in France.

Then, earlier this month, it finally arrived in New Delhi, registered at VT-RTN. The carrier didn’t take long to put it to commercial use, flying it between two key metro cities in the country – a route that sees a substantial number of business passengers.

New cabins for domestic services

While it’s certainly exciting to spot an Air India narrowbody plane in new colors, what’s also noteworthy is that it features a three-class configuration – economy, premium economy, and business class.

The economy cabin has 132 seats set in a 3-3 configuration, each offering a 28-29-inch seat pitch and 4-inch recline, a PED holder, and a coat hook. The premium economy cabin offers 24 extra legroom seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration across four rows. Each seat comes with a 4-way adjustable headrest, 32 inches of seat pitch, and 4 inches of recline.

The business class cabin features eight seats where guests can expect 40 inches of seat pitch and 7 inches of recline, leg rest, footrest, movable armrest, a 4-way adjustable headrest, and an extendable tray table that deploys at the push of a button. Both the premium economy and economy cabins are equipped with USB charging ports, and business class seats also include AC power outlets.

Fleet enhancement

Air India’s latest A320neo joins a few other A320s in old livery featuring a premium economy cabin. This aligns with the carrier’s vision of enhancing its inflight offerings both on domestic and international routes.

Photo: Air India

Not too long ago, Vistara was the only Indian carrier to offer premium economy seats, but that has changed now, with Air India also offering this choice to its customers on select international and domestic routes. The two carriers are headed for a merger with the aim of forming a consolidated full-service carrier under the Tata Group.

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