Air India finalising 'historic' aircraft order following Tata takeover; more deals likely

Air India has completed one year with the Tata Group, since its induction on January 27th, 2022. On the first anniversary of Air India's alliance with the Tata Group, Air India is working on finalising a historic order of new aircraft to power future growth, as the company is looking forward to making the airline the world's best by achieving its five-year roadmap 'Vihaan'.

Air India told news agency ANI that various initiatives across 22 broad work streams under 'Vihaan' are underway to transform the airline spanning three phases, namely Taxi, Take-Off and Climb. 

Air India likely to invest big to refurbish the interiors of its fleet

As stated by the airline to the agency, the initiative attracts the commitment of USD 400 Million to refurbish the interiors of its fleet. 

The latest investment by the airline company aimed at changing the entire interior look of its fleet, including latest generation seats and best-in-class inflight entertainment across all cabin classes. Further, the merger with Vistara with the combined entity having a 25.1 percent share-holding of Singapore Airlines as well and the acquisition of AirAsia India and its merger with its subsidiary Air India Express, are also on cards, in which regulatory approvals are awaited. 

Apart from this, Air India is also working on establishing an information technology (IT) centre in Kochi, working on establishing and setting up a world-class training academy. 

The ongoing integrated service between three different airlines of Tata group is already underway, as per ANI. Notably, on November 29, Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons announced their plan to merge Air India and Vistara, which is expected to be completed by March next year.

Also, on November 2, Air India stated that an operational review process is underway to integrate budget carrier AirAsia India with Air India Express. The merger is likely to be completed by the end of this year. 

It is pertinent to mention that it was on January 27, last year that Air India returned to Tata Group after almost seven decades. It was since then expected that the airline will be back to the glory days under the Tata Group. 

Last year, after winning the bid to acquire Air India again, Tata Sons Chairman, N Chandrasekaran said, "We are excited to bring Air India back to the Tata Group and are committed to making it a world-class airline."