Air India CEO Campbell Wilson | Photo credit: BHAWIKA CHHABRA
Air India will introduce a new wide-body aircraft every six weeks in 2026 for the next two years, which, along with the refurbishment of its original Boeing 787 and 777 fleet, will make it a “modern international” airline by 2028, according to CEO Campbell Wilson.
“There is a massive increase in our broad induction during 2026,” Mr Wilson said at the Aviation India Summit here. The new additions will include the first of the 787-9s joining the airline in December 2025, followed by an average of one every six weeks in 2026. These will be mostly 787-9s, as well as two Airbus A350-1000s in financial year 2026. The airline has so far delivered six A350s from its order of 68 wide-body jets, which form part of its larger purchase of 570 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. So far, the Air India group, including Air India Express, has added nearly 57 new aircraft.
Overall, the airline will continue to add a new aircraft every six to seven days.
By 2027, all 26,787 of the fleet will be completely refurbished, which will include brand new seats in every cabin, advanced in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems, new carpets, curtains, upholstery, toilets and galleys. Subsequently, from the end of 2026 and until 2028, all 13,777 will also be renovated.
These timelines are in line with Air India’s vision to transform the airline over five years from its privatization in January 2022.
IndiGo will also explore an “interim” solution for larger aircraft as it waits for the first of its wide-body Airbus A350s to join the fleet starting in 2027. The longer-range narrow-body A321XLRs will also start joining the fleet next month. The airline has already leased (or borrowed) four Boeing 787s from Norse to start direct flights to European destinations such as Manchester, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and London Heathrow.
On the issue of opening up access to the Indian aviation market, Mr. Wilson said markets like Europe, Australia and North America have already been liberalized because of the Open Sky arrangement, but there are restrictions on access to their airport slots. He said airlines from these continents had an advantage in securing slots at both ends, but with the growing ambitions of Indian carriers, there must be a “linkage between access to the Indian market and airport slots” available to Indian airlines overseas.
However, closer to the Indian market, foreign carriers picked up as much as 90% of passengers passing through their hubs heading elsewhere. “Therefore, it is in India’s interest to ensure that the pace of liberalization is such that it does not impair investment by Indian (entities)” such as the purchase of new aircraft, and does not erode “ancillary benefits” for MRO, manufacturing and tourism.
Published – 29 Oct 2025 21:17 IST
