Mumbai: Air India received delivery of its first retrofitted Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner under its major transformation program. The refurbishing is a part of the airline's $400 Million refurbishment program for 26 widebody aircraft.
Aircraft Registered
The aircraft, registered as VT-ANT, was the airline's first widebody aircraft to be sent to the Boeing facility in California's Victorville in July last year. After successful refurbishing at Victorsville and repainting at San Bernardino, the aircraft departed on Monday for its direct journey to Delhi, where it is supposed to reach at 11pm.
The aircraft underwent a comprehensive nose-to-tail interior overhaul, marking a historic milestone in its ambitious Vihaan.AI transformation journey, started by former CEO Campbell Wilson. The legacy Boeing 787-8 fleet, once criticised for aging interiors and broken inflight entertainment systems, has been completely reimagined into a modern three-class configuration of Economy, Premium Economy and Business. The new interiors are designed to match the line-fit (factory-fresh) Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-1000 aircraft being inducted simultaneously.
Legacy Boeing 787-8 Fleet
The return of the retrofitted Dreamliner is timed perfectly for the 2026 Summer Schedule 2026. Air India can deploy the upgraded aircraft on high-yield routes like Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda), Mumbai-London (Heathrow), and Bengaluru-London.
The carrier's second widebody aircraft underwent retrofitting last year and is expected to be delivered soon. While the airline planned to receive both the aircraft’s delivery in December last year, the retrofitting program is facing around a four-month delay. The airline's plan aimed to complete the retrofitting by mid-2027, which is also expected to face delay.
As part of a Reliability Enhancement Programme, Air India is upgrading the avionics and other critical components of the 26 legacy B787-8 aircraft up to the latest industry standards. The programme entails the analysis of maintenance and configuration records for these aircraft, followed by the implementation of recommended modifications based on Boeing’s service information bulletins. Around seven of the 26 B787-8s will undergo heavy, scheduled maintenance (D-checks) at Victorville.
The airline plans to commence the retrofitting of its 13 legacy Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in early 2027, aiming for completion by October 2028.
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