Air India and Boeing executives at Wings India 2026
Air India has announced that it has purchased 30 additional 737 MAX aircraft, taking the airline’s total order book for new Boeing aircraft to 250, including single-aisle and twin-aisle jets, and converted 15 A321neo orders to 15 A321XLR aircraft.
On January 28, 2026, during the inaugural day of the Wings India event, which will continue until January 31, Air India ordered 30 more 737 MAX aircraft, finalizing an incremental order for 20 737 MAX 8s and a new deal for 10 737 MAX 10s.
The latter previously appeared in Boeing’s orders and deliveries filings as a purchase from an unidentified customer.
Campbell Wilson, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Air India, noted that the additional order was part of the airline’s strategy to position itself for the future. The deal for the 30 737 MAXs also continues building on the orders the carrier made in 2023, supporting “steady deliveries and fleet upgrades planned over the next few years.”
Air India or Boeing did not specify the delivery dates of the additional 737 MAX 8 or 737 MAX 10 aircraft.
“The airline has, so far, received 52 aircraft from the original 220 ordered in 2023, including 51 737-8 in service with Air India’s subsidiary value carrier, Air India Express, and one brand-new 787-9,” which will begin commercial flights on February 1, flying between Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) and Frankfurt Airport (FRA), it said.
Boeing delivered the 787-9, registered as VT-AWA, on January 9, with the aircraft joining six other 787-9s that Air India inherited as part of its merger with Vistara.
A321neo to A321XLR conversions
On January 29, Air India also unveiled that as part of its fleet strategy decisions, it converted 15 A321neo orders to 15 A321XLRs, with the former being ordered as part of its “landmark orders placed with Airbus in 2023 with an addition in 2024, comprising a total of 50 twin-aisle A350 and 300 single-aisle A320 Family aircraft.”
The Indian carrier clarified that it will now take delivery of 90 A320neo, 195 A321neo, and 15 A321XLR aircraft.
Airbus should deliver the 15 A321XLRs between 2029 and 2030, with the aircraft enabling the airline to “open new non-stop international routes and optimise high-demand, medium-haul international services, with the flight economics of a single-aisle aircraft.”
Air India and Airbus already have a 50:50 joint venture that has set up an advanced pilot training centre, inaugurated in September 2025, at the Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Haryana. The state-of-the-art facility, equipped with 10 Full Flight Simulators (FFS), will train more than 5,000 new pilots over the next decade to support the exponential growth of commercial aviation in India.
India’s fleet growth
IndiGo was the first Indian airline to take delivery of the long-range Airbus jet in India, welcoming its first A321XLR, registered as VT-NLA, on January 6. The aircraft arrived at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) the following day, and has already entered service with the low-cost carrier.
On January 23, IndiGo’s A321XLR flew from BOM to ATH, and on January 24, departed on the airline’s inaugural DEL-ATH flights.
Both Air India and IndiGo rocked the aviation world in 2023 with massive aircraft orders. In total, Air India committed to 470 aircraft in 2023, with an additional 100 Airbus aircraft order in 2024, and now, the follow-up order for 30 737 MAX.
IndiGo placed a record-breaking order for 500 A320neo family aircraft during the Paris Air Show in June 2023, supplementing that deal with additional A350-900s in 2024 (30), which included 70 options for the widebody.
In October 2025, the low-cost carrier added another 30 firm A350-900 aircraft to its backlog.
Currently, Air India has outstanding deliveries of 542 new aircraft, including 344 with Airbus, out of its total firm orders for 600 aircraft, underscoring its commitment to building one of the world’s youngest and most efficient fleets to support India’s growing aviation ambitions.
Far cry from its government ownership days
With Air India now being in the private sector, the airline is adding aircraft to its fleet at a fast pace to meet the growing travel needs of the market. This is a far cry from the over one and a half decades that took Air India, while under government control, to order 68 Boeing aircraft in December 2005 at a then book value of around $ 11 billion.
After that, there were no new orders for aircraft until the Tata Group acquired Air India from the country’s government.
In addition to ordering new aircraft, Air India has also rebranded under the ownership of the Tata Group and is progressing with the overhaul of its passenger experience. On January 26, the airline unveiled custom-styled cabin interiors of its first line-fit 787-9 aircraft. The aforementioned airframe, registered as VT-AWA, features completely new cabin interiors, designed specifically for Air India.
In an event on January 11, Wilson remarked that the arrival of the 787-9, which was ordered in 2023, was “a significant moment in Air India’s 5-year Vihaan.AI transformation program.”
“It underscores Air India’s commitment to delivering a world-class physical product and in-flight entertainment experience to complement the warm Indian hospitality already delivered by our crew.”
The airline’s CEO added that the 787-9’s interiors will become standard across the entire 787 fleet, and, in addition to 19 more production aircraft, all 26 of Air India’s existing Boeing 787-8 aircraft are going to be retrofitted with the same new cabin interiors and entertainment systems.
“The retrofit program is well underway, with the first upgraded aircraft due to return to service in the coming weeks and the remainder of the fleet [will be completed] by mid-2027,” Wilson said.
At the end of October 2025, Air India confirmed the successful completion of the retrofit program for its legacy A320neo fleet, with the final 27th aircraft returning to service with brand-new cabin interiors and in the airline’s vibrant new livery.
With these, combined with 14 newly delivered A320neo aircraft and those integrated following the merger of Vistara into Air India, the airline now operates 104 A320 Family aircraft that feature new or upgraded cabin interiors.
Commenced in September 2024 as part of a broader $400 million initiative to modernize its entire legacy fleet, the retrofit program for all the legacy A320neos was completed within a year.
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