Thales And Air India Sign 10-Year FlytCARE Deal For In-Flight Entertainment Maintenance Across 57 Aircraft

Thales And Air India Sign 10-Year FlytCARE Deal For In-Flight Entertainment Maintenance Across 57 Aircraft

Air India has signed a 10-year deal with Thales for FlytCARE services covering 57 aircraft to enhance inflight entertainment maintenance. The move supports its fleet modernisation, including retrofitted Boeing 787 aircraft with advanced AVANT UP systems.

Dhairya GajaraUpdated: Monday, April 20, 2026, 11:24 PM IST
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Air India partners with Thales for long-term inflight entertainment maintenance across Airbus and Boeing fleet | File Photo

Mumbai, April 20: Air India signed a 10-year agreement with aerospace technology company Thales for its FlytCARE services package for 57 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. This agreement provides a full turn-key maintenance approach, covering line maintenance, spares, repairs and logistics management support for Thales’ inflight entertainment (IFE) systems.

Agreement follows fleet modernisation push

The agreement comes days after Air India welcomed its first retrofitted Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. The first of the 27 aircraft arrived in India after being refurbished as the airline aims to complete the retrofitting programme of its widebody fleet by 2027.

Maintenance support across key locations

Under the FlytCARE agreement, repair and maintenance will be delivered from Thales’ locations at Delhi and Mumbai airports in India, to expedite services and support Air India's customer-centric modernisation journey. According to Thales, the agreement will cover Air India’s 12 new widebody aircraft equipped with Thales’ AVANT UP inflight entertainment system.

Advanced inflight entertainment features

AVANT UP features a vast catalogue of content showcased on 4K HDR touchscreens, along with 60W USB-C and USB-A fast charging for customer devices, and the ability to simultaneously pair two Bluetooth connections. Air India has become the first carrier in the Asia Pacific region to fly with Thales’ AVANT Up solution.

Executives highlight partnership benefits

Air India’s Senior Vice President for Engineering and Maintenance Jeremy Yew said, “Ensuring the highest levels of reliability and uptime for our inflight entertainment systems is critical to delivering a world-class experience for our guests. This collaboration directly supports our fleet modernisation and our commitment to engineering excellence.”

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Thales’ Vice President for Aviation Global Services Thomas Got said, “This plays a key role in ensuring an exceptional passenger experience. We are honored to strengthen our long-standing partnership with Air India as they transform their in-flight entertainment experience.”

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