- Air India ordered 30 Boeing narrowbody jets, adding to its fleet expansion plans
- New Boeing 737s will support fleet renewal and regional and global full-service growth
- Since Tata's takeover, Air India has rapidly expanded with nearly 170 new and leased aircraft
Air India on Thursday announced a fresh expansion of its fleet, placing an order for 30 Boeing narrowbody aircraft and converting part of its existing Airbus order to long-range jets, underlining the Tata Group-owned carrier's push to accelerate its turnaround and growth plans.
The airline said it will acquire 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 10 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft, exercising options from a previous deal. With this, Air India's total orders with Boeing rise to 250 aircraft. The announcement was made at the Wings India 2026 civil aviation event in Hyderabad, in the presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu.
Alongside the Boeing deal, Air India also signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus to convert 15 A321neo aircraft from its existing order into the longer-range A321XLR variant. Deliveries of these jets are expected between 2029 and 2030. The move makes Air India the second Indian airline, after IndiGo, to opt for the A321XLR, Airbus' longest-range single-aisle aircraft.
The airline said the additional Boeing 737s will support fleet renewal, regional expansion, and a broader strategy to position Air India as a global full-service carrier. CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said steady aircraft deliveries and planned upgrades over the coming years are central to that ambition.
Air India currently awaits delivery of 198 new Boeing aircraft, even as it has already received 52 planes from its 2023 Boeing order. These include 51 Boeing 737-8 aircraft that are operating with its low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, and one Boeing 787-9, which is scheduled to begin commercial operations on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route from February 1, 2026.
At the same event, the airline also signed a multi-year agreement with Boeing Global Services for its Component Services Program covering the entire Boeing 787 fleet, including aircraft in service and on order. The programme provides component pooling, repair and overhaul services, and global logistics support, aimed at improving aircraft availability and reducing downtime as Air India scales up long-haul operations.
The conversion to A321XLR aircraft is expected to give Air India greater flexibility to launch new non-stop international routes and serve thinner long-haul and medium-haul markets more efficiently using single-aisle aircraft economics.
Air India has been on a large-scale fleet expansion since its privatisation in January 2022, when the Tata Group took over the airline from the Indian government. Since then, it has added nearly 170 aircraft through new deliveries, leases, mergers such as Vistara, and reactivation of grounded planes. In 2023, the airline placed one of the largest aviation orders in history, committing to 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing aircraft, followed by additional Airbus orders in 2024.
The latest announcements come as a positive development for the airline, which has faced regulatory scrutiny in recent times following a fatal crash last year and a series of safety-related incidents, even as it works to reverse years of under-investment and reclaim market share from global rivals.
