Air India’s first new Boeing 787-9 touches down in Delhi

12 January 2026: The year 2026 is off to a fresh start as we welcome a gleaming new chapter in our transformation story with the first line-fit (made-for-Air India) Boeing 787-9 landing at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Our cockpit crew comprising four Air India pilots completed a non-stop ferry flight of 16 hours and 58 minutes from Boeing's Everett factory in Washington state to New Delhi marking not just an arrival of an aircraft but the airline’s commitment towards delivering a world-class flying experience.

The new aircraft, which bears the registration VT-AWA, comes with 296 seats across three cabin classes: Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. The aircraft features bespoke cabin interiors installed directly on Boeing's production line, the details of which will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Beginning the year of change

This is just the beginning of many more milestones to follow during the course of the year. 2026 will see a total of six widebody aircraft deliveries (Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 787-9) including the recently delivered VT-AWA. The new cabins of the Boeing 787-9 will become the new benchmark across our Boeing 787 fleet. In line with this, 26 of Air India’s legacy Boeing 787-8 aircraft are progressively undergoing retrofits. The programme is well underway, with many of these aircraft scheduled to complete the process and return to service with refreshed nose-to-tail refit in 2026, including a fresh livery in the new Air India branding. What this effectively means is that by the end of this year, nearly 60% of our widebody fleet will have modern interiors.

Commercial deployment

The new Boeing 787-9 is expected to enter international, long-haul commercial service in February 2026, and the schedule of operations will be announced shortly.

About Air India group

The Air India group – comprising of full-service global airline Air India and value carrier Air India Express – is spearheading a new era of Indian aviation. The Air India story began in 1932 when JRD Tata piloted the airline’s inaugural flight and opened the skies for aviation in India. Today, Air India group employs more than 30,000 people, operates over 300 aircraft and carries customers to 55 domestic and 45 international destinations across five continents.

Returning to the Tata Sons in 2022 following 70 years under Government ownership, Air India group is in the midst of a five-year transformation program, Vihaan.AI. As part of the transformation, Air India has placed an order for 570 new aircraft. In 2024, sister airlines Air Asia India and Vistara were successfully merged into Air India Express and Air India respectively, and the Airline opened South Asia’s largest aviation training academy. A new flying school is scheduled to open in 2025, and construction of a greenfield maintenance base, to be operational in 2026, is underway. In addition to receiving new aircraft, all existing aircraft are progressively undergoing a full interior refit.

With transformation underway across all facets of the business and India’s rich legacy of hospitality, Air India is committed to being a world class global airline with an Indian heart.

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