Air India’s wide-body fleet to grow by 30 per cent this fiscal: CEO Wilson

CEO Campbell Wilson has said the airline's wide-body aircraft fleet will grow by 30 per cent by the end of the fiscal year 2023-24

New Delhi: Air India CEO Campbell Wilson has said the airline’s wide-body aircraft fleet will grow by 30 per cent by the end of the fiscal year 2023-24.

In his weekly message to the Air India family, Wilson apprised them that the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) this week issued the Letter of Type Acceptance for its Rolls-Royce-powered A350s.

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The first A350 will be delivered by Airbus within the next “few months”, Wilson said.

This paves the way for us to initiate various activities related to the induction of this aircraft, the first of which is now only a few months away. My thanks to the team who’ve made this happen, he wrote to the Air India family.

By the end of this financial year, the six new A350s, together with the 5 leased B772LRs and 9 other B773ERs we’re also inducting, will mean that our widebody fleet will have grown in size by 30 per cent within a year and that, by Mar24, around a third of the total widebody fleet will feature modern seats and inflight entertainment systems.

The rest of the fleet will then commence their full USD 400m interior refit so that our hard product is up to a consistently high standard on every aircraft,” Campbell signed off, wishing a great weekend to the family.

In December 2022, Air India had announced plans to refurbish its entire legacy of widebody fleet, comprising 27 Boeing B787-8 and 13 B777 aircraft, committing over USD 400 million for the project.