New Delhi: The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday comprises nearly one-sixth of the carrier’s total fleet strength, according to Planespotters.net, an aircraft tracking website. The airline has a total fleet size of 191 aircraft with an average age of planes around 8.1 years.
According to the website, the company has 33 active Boeing 787 Dreamliners, with an average age of 9.6 years. Twenty-six of these are the Boeing 787-8 model, one of which crashed in Ahmedabad. For this model, the average age of the aircraft rises to 10.9 years. Boeing’s shares plummeted 7 per cent during Thursday’s pre-market session on the back of the Ahmedabad crash.
The oldest Boeing 787-8 model, according to Planespotters.net, was delivered on 5 September 2012, close to 13 years ago. The Tata Group, recognising they were inheriting an ageing fleet when they took over in January 2022, set out on a path to revamp the airline.
According to the Air India website, the company has 128 narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft. These include Airbus’ A319, A320, A321 and A350 and Boeing’s B787-8, B787-9 and B777 series. The exact breakup of the fleet is not available, and the total number doesn’t seem to be updated on the website.
In April 2025, Air India announced a $400 million fleet upgradation programme, which lists a total of 198 aircraft as part of its fleet. The programme involves refurbishing seats, carpets, curtains and lavatories for 106 legacy aircraft – 82 Airbus A320neo, 7 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, 6 Boeing 777-300 ER, 6 Airbus A350, and 5 Boeing 777-200 LR.
Revamp plan
In 2022, Air India announced the launch of Vihaan.AI, a five-year transformation plan to revitalise the airline across its fleet, technology, operations, and customer service.
The first phase – “Taxi” – was for laying foundational improvements. This included a $400 million investment in aircraft refurbishment, a $200 million investment in upgrading IT systems, adding six new international routes, and training programmes to upskill staff. As part of this phase, the company began placing orders with Boeing and Airbus for aircraft.
In June 2023, Air India placed an order for 470 aircraft – 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing. The Airbus order included 40 A350 (twin-aisle) planes and 210 A320 (single-aisle) planes. The Boeing order consisted of 190 B737-8 (single-aisle) planes and 30 twin-aisle aircraft, which included 20 B787 Dreamliners.
In December 2024, the company confirmed that it had purchased an additional 100 aircraft from Airbus, taking its total purchase order with the France-based company to 350. This order included 10 A350 (twin-aisle) aircraft and 90 A320 (single-aisle) aircraft. Air India also selected Airbus’ Flight Hour Services-Component (FHS-C), a materials and maintenance contract provided by Airbus to ensure the reliability and performance of its new fleet.
“With India’s passenger growth outpacing the rest of the world, its significantly improving infrastructure and an aspirational young population increasingly going global, we see a clear case for Air India to expand its future fleet beyond the firm orders of the 470 aircraft placed last year,” said Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and Air India.
In the same month, Air India also announced a purchase of aircraft for training cadet pilots at an upcoming Flying Training Organisation (FTO) in Amravati, Maharashtra, for the second half of 2025. Orders for 31 single-engine aircraft from Piper Aircraft and three twin-engine aircraft from Diamond Aircraft were placed.
In June 2025, Reuters reported that the group was in talks with both aircraft manufacturing giants to purchase an additional 200 single-aisle planes.
Currently in the second phase of Vihaan.AI – “Take Off” – Air India has been focusing on the consolidation of its various airlines, expanding its fleet, cutting losses, and continuing to enhance its IT infrastructure.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)