New first-class cabins will outdo the comfort of private jets: Air India

Air India's new wide-body fleet will offer high net worth individual an alternate to private jets on long haul routes like Delhi to London

India's legacy international airline, Air India, is confident that its upcoming first-class product, set to debut with its new wide-body fleet in the next few years, will offer high-net-worth individuals an alternative to private jets on long-haul routes like Delhi to London.

"Even if you have a private jet, you can't fly to the US from India in your private jet without a stop. However, with our first-class product, you can fly nonstop and reach faster," said Air India's Chief Commercial Officer & Transformation Officer, Nipun Aggarwal, in an interview with Moneycontrol on January 10.

Aggarwal explained that Air India will deploy the first-class cabins on its largest aircraft, the Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 777X. These planes will be delivered with the new first-class product, though he did not specify a timeline for their deployment. The airline is currently in discussions with Airbus and Boeing to ensure the new planes are configured with first-class cabins.

Not all wide-body aircraft in Air India's fleet will feature first-class cabins. Instead, the airline plans to use this as a niche offering on routes serving "mega-cities" such as Singapore, London, and New York.

"Many of the biggest airlines in the world are developing the next generation of first-class products, and Air India aims to compete with them by offering a superior product," Aggarwal added.

In 2023, Air India revealed its intent to retain first-class cabins on its legacy Boeing 777-300ER planes and planned to retrofit these aircraft with updated first-class cabins by September 2024. Currently, Air India's legacy Boeing 777 aircraft have one row of first-class seats (four seats) and 35 business-class seats. The new planes, however, will have a higher number of first-class and business-class seats.

Air India currently uses the Safran Unity platform in a 1-2-1 configuration for its first-class cabins. This platform, launched in 2022, debuted with the Project Sunrise A350 aircraft in January 2024. However, the final product choice for the new first-class cabins has yet to be disclosed.

In addition to fleet upgrades, Aggarwal mentioned that Air India will soon introduce new co-branded credit cards to enhance value for its frequent flyers. While he did not provide a timeline, he confirmed that the airline is actively in discussions with banks to develop these cards.

"In markets like the US and Australia, airline co-branded cards dominate, and we see an opportunity to simplify our card portfolio while offering a stronger customer value proposition. This will allow us to scale our co-branded card offerings," he said.

Existing cards will continue, but they will eventually be integrated into the revamped card portfolio.