Air India (AI, Delhi International) has re-introduced its first retrofitted A320-200N to scheduled service following a six-month refit, the airline said in a press release.
VT-EXN (msn 8486) carried out its first post-refit revenue flight on March 1, 2025 with a service from Delhi International to Bhubaneshwar, according to Flightradar24 ADS-B data. The aircraft has since been deployed across the airline's domestic and short-haul international routes.
The 6.3-year-old unit is one of twenty-seven A320neo being upgraded as part of the carrier's USD400 million programme to refurbish its entire fleet of legacy narrowbody and widebody aircraft. All of these aircraft were inherited from pre-privatisation times.
The narrowbody refit, scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2025, involves fitting new seats along with fresh carpets and cabin interiors, and repainted fuselages. The upgraded A320neo cabins will be configured in a three-class layout with eight business class, 24 premium economy, and 132 economy class seats.
The programme will see Air India retrofit more than 100 aircraft. However, the airline has been grappling with a shortage of seats as manufacturers struggle to design, certify, and produce units at the required volumes. Supplies of first and business class seats have been delayed by between six and 12 months, the airline noted in December.
The refit project comes in the wake of Air India merging with Vistara and Air India Express merging with AIX Connect. Following the merger, the airline elected to rehabilitate the older units it inherited from the former owner while it awaits the deliveries of the nearly 500 aircraft it ordered in February 2023. In terms of narrowbody aircraft, it has so far taken forty-one B737-8s (all operated by Air India Express) from this order, although it has also been adding A320-200Ns, A321-200NX, and A321-200NX(LR)s from lessors.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said he expects to complete the upgrade of all legacy widebody aircraft by mid-2027, adding that the global aviation market is likely to remain "supply constrained" for the next four to five years.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the airline currently operates a fleet of 202 aircraft, including ten A319-100s, four A320-200s, ninety-four A320-200Ns, thirteen A321-200s, thirteen A321-200NX, one A321-200NY(LR), six A350-900s, eight B777-200LRs, nineteen B777-300ERs, twenty-seven B787-8s, and seven B787-9s. Air India also has 374 aircraft on order, including ninety A320-200Ns, 210 A321-200NX, nineteen A350-900s, twenty-five A350-1000s, ten B777-9s, and twenty B787-9s.
