Air India has five former 
Delta Air Lines
Boeing 777-200LRs, each retaining the Delta hard product, including Delta One business class. The five aircraft have 288 seats, distinguishing them from the Star Alliance member’s other 200LRs, which only have 238 seats. This is very helpful in determining where they fly—and where they previously flew.
Air India has 27 Triple 7s: eight 200LRs and 19 300ERs (some were ex-Etihad). Many will be refurbished in 2025. They are the carrier’s joint-largest widebody subfleet, alongside 27 787-8s.
Air India’s ex-Delta 200LRs: a summary
The carrier has eight 200LRs, which is its oldest widebody subfleet. Five of them were previously flown by Delta, each with the same configuration. While they do not have first class, unlike the non-Delta aircraft, there are 28 business seats, 48 in premium economy and 212 in economy. They are less premium and heavier than its other 200LRs.
According to ch-aviation, the five aircraft listed below are all leased from US-based Spectre Air Capital or US-based Jetran. The first, VT-AEF (ex-N702DN), shown above, arrived amid the pandemic in November 2022.
At 16.5 years, VT-AEF is Air India’s oldest 200LR. It entered service in December 2022 from Mumbai to San Francisco, among the world’s longest non-stop routes at 7,305 nautical miles (13,529 km). The 200LR was explicitly designed for this kind of ultra-long-haul market.
These are the ex-Delta aircraft
- VT-AEE; delivered to Air India in April 2023; previously N704DK (it was DK rather than DN)
- VT-AEF; November 2022; previously N702DN
- VT-AEG; December 2022; previously N706DN
- VT-AEH; January 2023; N707DN
- VT-AEI; June 2023; previously N708DN
Where they are flying
Using OAG to examine flights from September 2024 to February 2025 reveals just three ex-Delta routes. All are to San Francisco, an airport that OAG indicates never had any Delta 200LR flights—which is unsurprising.
The average stage length of the three routes is 7,188 nautical miles (13,312 km) on a Great Circle basis. They all overfly Russian airspace to/from the US and cover 10% more distance than Air India’s non-Delta 200LRs.
Image: GCMap
The three routes on the 288-seater
Only the ex-Delta equipment serves the three routes. The planned 288-seater network may change if or when Air India finally announces long-awaited service to Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Seattle. We will have to wait and see.
- Bengaluru-San Francisco: three times weekly; blocked at 17h 55m to California (Air India’s longest route)
- Delhi-San Francisco: 10 weekly; up to 17h 10m (fifth-longest route)
- Mumbai-San Francisco: four times weekly; up to 17h 25m (second-longest route)
These other long-haul routes used to see it…
Since entering Air India’s fleet in late 2022, the carrier previously flew the 288-seat 200LR between Mumbai and New York JFK (in 2023/2024) and very occasionally between Delhi and London Heathrow. The equipment also operated one (just one!) roundtrip service between Delhi and Chicago O’Hare.