Mumbai, August 31, 2026: Air India received delivery of its fourth factory-fresh Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on Sunday. The carrier has received 10 of its widebody aircraft orders and expects to receive India's first Airbus A350-1000 before the year-end.
Registered as VT-AWD, the widebody jet touched down at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 10.22 pm on Sunday after departing Boeing’s Everett facility in Washington on August 29 and completing a technical refuelling stop at San Bernardino International Airport. The aircraft was the final 787-9 slated for delivery to the Tata Group-backed flag carrier this calendar year.
Widebody Fleet Expansion
Widebody inductions have anchored the multi-billion-dollar operational overhaul initiated by the Tata Group following its privatisation of the carrier. This was the first direct Boeing 787 delivery to Air India originating from Boeing’s iconic Everett plant since October 2017.
Unlike the leased or inherited Dreamliners previously added to the fleet, VT-AWD — alongside its newly inducted sister aircraft VT-AWA, VT-AWB and VT-AWC — arrives with factory-fitted, custom line-fit interior cabins.
These models feature an upgraded three-class configuration comprising Business, Premium Economy and Economy seats, complete with modern inflight entertainment systems, wireless charging, and updated cabin ergonomics.
Higher Payload Capacity
Beyond interior upgrades, the operational impact of VT-AWB, VT-AWC and VT-AWD lies in their increased Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) certification.
For ultra-long-haul (ULH) routes like Delhi to Toronto, traditional payload restrictions often force carriers to limit passenger counts or cargo volumes to maintain structural and fuel margins over extreme non-stop distances.
The enhanced MTOW variant provides the operational buffer needed to run these routes without payload penalties, allowing Air India to operate at full capacity with maximum belly-hold cargo revenue.
The carrier holds a landmark firm order book of 600 aircraft split across Airbus and Boeing. The airline has received deliveries of four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and is awaiting 16 more. It has also taken deliveries of six Airbus A350-900 and is expecting the first delivery of A350-1000 by the end of 2026.
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Legacy Fleet Retrofit
Parallel to the incoming factory-fresh deliveries, Air India is executing a $400 million retrofit campaign on its 26 legacy Boeing 787-8 jets. With line-fit 787-9s now handling critical high-yield routes and legacy aircraft entering retrofits, the carrier expects over 60% of its widebody long-haul fleet to feature completely modernised cabin interiors by late 2026.
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