While Air India unveiled its new livery last year, only its new widebody Airbus A350s have sported the new look. It will take some time before we see its entire fleet in the new design, but things are moving in that direction gradually. The carrier’s first Airbus A320 was recently seen in the new livery in France, becoming the first Air India narrowbody aircraft to showcase the new look.
Air India A320 spotted in new livery
Air India’s first narrowbody aircraft to wear the new livery was recently spotted at the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France. The Airbus A320 had the new design that was revealed last year amid a huge media event.
The aircraft was seen without any engines, so there’s still some time before it gets delivered to the carrier, but the latest development is quite interesting as this is the first time the world got a glimpse of what Air India’s narrowbody fleet would look like in the new color scheme.
Air India has received several new A320 family of airplanes since becoming a private carrier, but all of them were delivered in the old livery. But with the latest example, the process of painting the new batch of narrowbody planes in the latest branding has begun.
New livery
Air India’s ownership changed in 2022 when it went to the Tata Group. Since then, the new management has been trying to steer it towards a new direction and away from its troubled past. This includes working on its customer care strategy, growing its fleet and network, and, of course, giving it a new brand identity.
Air India hosted a grand media event last year when it unveiled its new brand identity. Its new aircraft livery was revealed, and the ‘Air India Sans’ font was introduced, with the new logo being a mix of old and new.
The tail sports a mixture of the golden window edge, iconic red, and purple from Vistara, with red wingtips and gold accents on the belly. The new colors – deep red, aubergine, and gold – were first seen on the carrier’s A350s, and with the latest A320 also seen in them, we can expect all new aircraft to be in the latest livery as well.
Fleet and network restructuring
Air India’s ongoing transformation is unlike anything the carrier has seen in recent years. It placed a massive 470 aircraft order last year from Airbus and Boeing and has also received planes on short-term leases.
It has introduced several new flights to the US and is also gradually working on reclaiming its lost market share in India. The carrier signed a leasing agreement for 30 aircraft in 2022 and has already received several A320 family of airplanes that are part of that deal.
Photo: Eurospot
Air India also wants to control around 30% of the Indian market in the coming years as part of its larger transformation plan and will soon consolidate its operations when it merges with another Tata Group-owned carrier, Vistara, in the next few months.
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