Air India fleet

As of March 2025^[update], Air India operates a fleet of both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft with a fleet consisting of Airbus A319, A320, A320neo, A321, A321neo, A350 as well as the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787, making a total of 202 aircraft.

Fleet development

In 1932, Air India started operations with the De Havilland Puss Moth aircraft. On 21 February 1960, Air India International inducted its first Boeing 707 named Gauri Shankar (registered VT-DJJ), thereby becoming the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet.^[1][2] In 1971, the airline took delivery of its first wide-body aircraft, a Boeing 747-200B named Emperor Ashoka (registered VT-EBD).^[3] In 1986, Air India introduced its first Airbus aircraft, an Airbus A310-300.^[4] On 4 August 1993, Air India took the delivery of its first Boeing 747-400 named Konark (registered VT-ESM).^[5] Indian Airlines introduced the Airbus A320 family of aircraft in 1989 and the smaller Airbus A319s in 2005, which are now used by Air India on domestic and regional routes, respectively.^[4] On 11 January 2006, Air India announced an order for 68 jets – 8 Boeing 777-200LR, 15 Boeing 777-300ER, 18 Boeing 737-800 and 27 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners. The eighteen Boeing 737s ordered were later transferred to Air India Express when Air India took delivery of the Dreamliners.^[6] After the merger with Indian Airlines in 2007, Air India inducted the Airbus A321 in its fleet to operate mainly on short-haul international routes and leased the Airbus A330s to operate on medium-haul international routes.

The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 777-200LR aircraft on 26 July 2007, which was named Andhra Pradesh, and the first Boeing 777-300ER on 9 October 2007, which was named as Bihar.^{[citation needed]} The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one Boeing 747 in March 2009 for US$18.75 million, due to debts.^[7] It also sold five of its eight Boeing 777-200LR aircraft to Etihad Airways in December 2013.^[8] Air India received its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on 6 September 2012, commencing flights on 19 September 2012, which along with 777s, have since replaced the aging and fuel-inefficient 747s in the fleet of international routes.^[9] On 21 April 2014, Air India decided to sell its remaining three Boeing 777-200LRs as well, citing higher operating costs.^[10] On 24 April 2014, Air India issued a tender for leasing 14 Airbus A320 aircraft for up to six years, to strengthen its domestic network.^[11]

Many years later, in December 2022, a day after the merger announcement with Vistara, it was reported that Air India would order nearly five hundred new aircraft.^[12][13] On 14 February 2023, Air India announced an order for 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing consisting of 210 A320neo family, 40 A350, 190 737 MAX for Air India Express, 20 787-9 and 10 777-9 aircraft at a cost of US$70 billion, with deliveries beginning in late 2023.^[14] The airline announced that it would be leasing 36 aircraft, 25 narrow-body aircraft and 11 wide-body aircraft, till the delivery of the newly ordered planes.^[15] On 26 March 2023, Air India took delivery of its first Airbus A321neo, albeit a leased one.^[16] As part of its fleet restructuring, Air India unveiled its new logo, livery and branding on 10 August 2023 and received its first re-branded aircraft, an Airbus A350-900, on 23 December 2023.^[17][18] On 22 April 2024, Air India sold four Boeing 747 aircraft to the US company AerSale, which will convert two into freighters and scrap the other two.^[19]

Air India has planned a $400 million refit program for its legacy aircraft fleet. On 16 September 2024, the first phase of the refit began in which 27 older A320neo and 40 Boeing widebody aircraft will be retrofitted with new seats, cabin and livery. VT-EXN, an A320neo, has been parked in a hangar and will be the first to be retrofitted. The aircraft will be delivered and enter service in December 2024 after its prototyping phase and certification. The rest of the 27 narrowbody aircraft's upgradation and modernisation will continue at the rate of 3 to 4 aircraft per month. The upgrade of the narrowbodies is set to be completed by mid-2025.^[20][21]

On 12 November 2024, with the merger of Vistara and Air India, all of Vistara's 70 aircraft were transferred to Air India.^[22]

The airline revealed that it had placed another order of 100 aircraft from Airbus on 9 December 2024, converted from its options from the previous order. The deal comprised an additional 10 A350 aircraft and 90 A320 family aircraft.^[23][24]

As of March 2025, the first retrofitted legacy narrowbody aircraft, VT-EXN, had returned to the operational fleet while the rest of 26 legacy narrowbody fleet would complete the being retrofitted by the 3rd quarter of the year. The first of the legacy widebody aircraft, a Boeing 787, would be sent for retrofitting by April 2025 followed by a Boeing 777 later in 2026 with the entire program expected to be completed by mid 2027.^[25][26]

Current fleet

As of March 2025^[update], Air India operates the following aircraft:^[27][28][a]

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers					Refs	Notes
			F	C	W	Y	Total
Airbus A319-100	6	—	—	8	—	114	122	[29]	To be retired and replaced by Airbus A320neo[30]
Airbus A320-200	4	—	—	12	—	138	150	[31]
Airbus A320neo	61	90	—	8	24	132	164	[32][33]
	23			12	—	150	162		Being refurbished with a three-class configuration[20]
	10			—		180	180	[34]	8 to be transferred to Air India Express[35][36]
Airbus A321-200	13	—	—	12	—	170	182	[37]
Airbus A321neo	10	210	—	12	24	152	188	[38]
	2				—	180	192	[39]
Airbus A350-900	6	19	—	28	24	264	316	[40]	6 taken from an Aeroflot order, retaining interior configuration[41]
Airbus A350-1000	—	25	TBA						Order with 5 options[42][24]
Boeing 777-200LR	3	—	8	35	—	195	238	[43]	To be refreshed from 2025,[44] followed by refurbishment from 2027[20][45]
	5		—	28	48	212	288		Former Delta Air Lines aircraft
Boeing 777-300ER	13	—	4	35	—	303	342	[46]	Currently being refreshed,[47][44] followed by refurbishment with a four-class configuration from 2027[20][48]
						305	344
	6		8	40		280	328		Former Etihad Airways aircraft
Boeing 777-9	—	10	TBA					[49]
Boeing 787-8	23	—	—	18	—	238	256	[50]	To be refurbished from 2025[20]
	4					241	259
Boeing 787-9	6	20	—	30	21	248	299	[51]	Order with 20 options[49]
	1				36	226	292	[52]
Total	196	374

• Hover over each photo to view label detail
• 
  Airbus A319-100
• 
  Airbus A320-200
• 
  Airbus A320neo
• 
  Airbus A321-200
• 
  Airbus A321neo
• 
  Airbus A350-900
• 
  Boeing 777-200LR
• 
  Boeing 777-300ER
• 
  Boeing 787-8

Special Liveries

Aircraft	Aircraft Registration	Livery
Airbus A320neo	VT-ATV	Tata SIA Airlines (Vistara) retro[53]
	VT-CIO	Mahatma Gandhi 150th Anniversary[54]
	VT-EXO	Star Alliance[55]
Boeing 777-200LR	VT-ALG	Mahatma Gandhi 150th Anniversary[56]
Boeing 777-300ER	VT-ALJ	Star Alliance[57][58]
	VT-ALN	Celebrating India[59]
	VT-ALT	Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav[60]
Boeing 787-8	VT-ANC	Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav[citation needed]
	VT-ANP	Mahatma Gandhi 150th Anniversary[61]
	VT-ANQ	Guru Nanak 550 Years Celebration[62]
	VT-ANU	Star Alliance[63]

Former fleet

Air India Airbus A330-200

Air India Airbus A310-300

Air India Boeing 767-300ER

Boeing 707-420C in 1976

Air India Lockheed Super Constellation in 1961 at Prague Ruzyně Airport

Air India Douglas DC-3 at Heathrow Airport in 1958

Air India Boeing 747-400

Air India Lockheed L-1011 TriStar

Past aircraft operated by Air India^[64]

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Replacement	Notes
Airbus A300B4-100	1	1994	1994	Airbus A321
Airbus A300B4-200	3	1982	2002	Airbus A321
Airbus A310-300	28	1986	2016	Boeing 787-8	Some converted to Cargo use for Air India Cargo
Airbus A319-100	17	2009	2024	Airbus A320neo
	1		2021		Transferred to DRDO as a testbed aircraft[65]
Airbus A320-200	38	2007	2019	Airbus A320neo
	5	2015	2025		Transferred to Air India Express
Airbus A320neo	7	2024	2025	None
Airbus A321-200	1	2007	2019	Airbus A321neo
	6		2022		To be converted into AEW&C for the Indian Air Force[65]
Airbus A321neo	2	2023	2025	None	Transferred to Air India Express
Airbus A330-200	2	2008	2015	Boeing 787-8
Boeing 707-300B	3	1962	1989	Boeing 747-200 Boeing 747-300M
Boeing 707-300C	2	1964	1990	Boeing 747-200 Boeing 747-300M
Boeing 707-400	4	1960	1984	Boeing 747-200
	1		1966	None	Crashed as Flight AI101
	1		1982		Crashed as Flight AI403
Boeing 737-200	5	2007	2011	Airbus A320
Boeing 747-200B	11	1971	2004	Boeing 747-400 Boeing 777-200 Boeing 777-200ER
	1		1978	None	Crashed as Flight AI855
	1		1985		Destroyed by a bomb as Flight AI182
	1	1987	1988	Boeing 747-300M
Boeing 747-300	1	2005	2007	Boeing 777-300ER	Leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic
Boeing 747-300M	2	1988	2008	Boeing 777-300ER
Boeing 747-400M	1	2005	2008	Boeing 777-300ER	Purchased used from Air Canada, sold to Dubai Royal Air Wing
Boeing 747-400	13	1993	2024	Airbus A350-900 Boeing 777-200LR Boeing 777-300ER Boeing 777-9	Last 4 were deregistered in 2022, and sold to AerSale in April 2024.[66] VT-ESM written off in September 2009 at BOM due to fire.
Boeing 757-200	1	2007	2007	None
Boeing 767-300ER	2	2006	2008	None
	1	2007	2007
Boeing 777-200	1	2006	2010	Boeing 777-200LR Boeing 777-300ER	Leased from United Airlines
Boeing 777-200ER	3	2005	2011	Boeing 777-200LR Boeing 777-300ER	Leased from United Airlines
Boeing 777-200LR	5	2008	2014	None	Sold to Etihad Airways
Boeing 777-300ER	2	2018	2020	None	Acquired by Indian Air Force for Air India One for the President, Vice-President or Prime Minister of India
De Havilland Comet	Un­known	1950s	1950s	None
De Havilland Dragon Rapide	Un­known	1930s	1940s	None
De Havilland Fox Moth	Un­known	1930s	1930s	None
De Havilland Puss Moth	Un­known	1929	1932	None
Douglas DC-2	15	1934	1940	Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3	Un­known	1936	1970s	Douglas DC-4
Douglas DC-4	Un­known	1948	Unknown	None
Douglas DC-8-60F	15	1977	1988	Boeing 747-200
Douglas DC-8-70F		1983	1995	Boeing 747-200
Ilyushin Il-62M	Un­known	1989	1990	Airbus A310
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar	2	1995	1996	None
Lockheed L-749 Constellation	4	1951	1972	None
	1		1950		Crashed as Flight AI245
	1		1955		Destroyed by a bomb as Flight AI300
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation	10	1956	1970s	None
Percival Petrel	Un­known	1930s	1930s	None
Vickers VC.1 Viking	9	1947	1960s	None
Waco YQC-6	Un­known	1939	Unknown	None

Notes

1. As per official website, the fleet count is 128. As the official website does not give the split by aircraft type, other sources have been used for the section, which differs from the count given in the official website