Air India plans to launch Wi-Fi on international flights by year-end

Air India plans to introduce Wi-Fi connectivity on its international flights starting in November, an airline executive has said.

Air India plans to introduce Wi-Fi connectivity on its international flights starting in November, an airline executive has said, listing out as a series of improvements passengers will see within six months.

Air India’s upcoming changes include upgrading all flights with new soft products, retrofitting legacy planes and introducing new A350 aircraft on international routes. (Reuters)

The changes include upgrading all flights with new soft products, retrofitting legacy planes and introducing new A350 aircraft on international routes.

Since the Tata Group took control of the airline from the government in January 2022, it has been implementing measures to improve the struggling carrier. These efforts include hiring 9,000 crew members to enhance service quality.

Rajesh Dogra, chief customer experience officer, said: “The airline is working to improve passenger comfort on both domestic and international routes. With the launch of the A350, there is a massive boost in customers’ overall perception... Customers see this as a signal of how the new Air India is going to be. For domestic routes too, we have begun retrofitting our old legacy narrow body aircraft and expect 90% of them to be retrofitted mid next year. Widebody will start after that. Retrofit will happen in phases.”.

Air India is currently following a multi-phase transformation plan with enhancements to its fleet and network, overhaul of its customer services and improvements to operational reliability.

Officials familiar with the development said the airline’s load factor on the newly introduced A350 has picked up, with a significant uptick in business class occupancy.

Air India introduced India’s newest aircraft, the A350, in January this year. It was deployed on international routes (starting with Dubai) on May 1 and on the Delhi-London (Heathrow) sector on September 1.

The airline currently has six A350s, and expects 34 more to be delivered from 2026 onwards.

Officials said the airline is considering four-class cabins (first class, business, premium economy and economy class) in the A350, in addition to its soon-to-be retrofitted B777-300 legacy aircraft.

“Air India is working with seat suppliers to explore having retrofitted wide-body aircraft with four-class cabins, subject to regulatory approvals. We will have a clear picture in a couple of months,” Dogra confirmed.

However, an official confirmed to HT that the retrofitted B777-300 will have four class cabins and not the upcoming A350s.

Since Tata Group’s takeover of the airline from the government, the airline has focused on fleet expansion, staff hiring for better service and improving customer experience. Last month, it introduced a wireless blue box in all legacy wide body aircraft. This was done as a temporary solution since its legacy widebody aircraft do not have functional in-flight entertainment (IFE) facilities.

There are supply chain issues leading to some dysfunctional IFEs. Passengers on these aircraft can use these boxes called Vista until the planes are retrofitted.

Regarding Wi-Fi on board, Dogra said, “A lot of effort has been made to launch Wi-Fi on board, and international flights will get it first. We are waiting for approvals from the concerned authority, which are expected anytime. The service should start with our A350s within one month after we receive the approvals”. However, an official confirmed to HT that the A350-1000 and retrofitted B777-300 will have four-class cabins.

He also said passenger experience will improve with upgraded soft products on flights. “We aim to implement soft product furnishings like tableware, glassware, cutlery, bedding and amenity kits by mid-November on all our flights to the US”, Dogra said. These soft products are expected to be introduced on all international routes by mid-March.

Focusing on pre-boarding experience, the airline has begun work on a new international lounge at Delhi’s Terminal 3. “We are actively looking at Dubai and London to have new lounges. Domestically, we are looking to have exclusive lounges in Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad as well”, Dogra concluded.