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0 commentsAir India, the flag carrier airline of India, has unveiled a new advertisement named “Safe Mudras” highlighting the cultural diversity and heritage of India uniquely infusing them with safety video instructions.
Air India was founded in 1932 (as Tata Airlines) that grew into the flagship international airline of India.
The first scheduled service was inaugurated in 1932 by Indian industrialist and visionary J.R.D. Tata. After World War II, in 1946, Tata Airlines was converted into a public company and renamed Air-India Limited. Two years later, to inaugurate international services between Bombay and Cairo, Geneva, and London, Air-India International Limited was formed.
In 1953 India nationalized all Indian airlines, creating two corporations—one for domestic service, called Indian Airlines Corporation (merging Air-India Limited with six lesser lines), and one for international service, Air-India International Corporation. The latter’s name was abbreviated to Air-India in 1962. In the following decades as India’s flag carrier, the airline extended its international routes to all continents except South America, and it expanded its cargo operations. Since 1946, the iconic mascot Maharaja with his twirled moustache has been associated with Air India.
In 2021, the Tatas paid nearly $2.4bn (£1.7bn) to buy the carrier which had racked up losses worth $9.5bn.
Since taking control, Tata has spent millions of dollars to update the air carrier's fleet. In February, the company announced a deal with Europe's Airbus and US-based Boeing to buy a record 470 new aircrafts as part of the airline's push to become a bigger global player.
In August last year, the Tata Group unveiled a new logo, branding and livery for Air India as part of a multi-million dollar transformation of India’s former national carrier.
Air India will be investing US $400 million to completely refurbish the interiors of its legacy fleet of 43 widebody aircraft. These 43 include the 27 B787s and 16 B777s. The refurbishment is slated to commence mid-2024. It will consist of installation of brand-new seats in every cabin, new inflight entertainment systems and inflight Wi-Fi internet connectivity.
The entire exercise is expected to be over by the end of 2025, which means there will be over 2 aircraft which will start coming out refurbished towards the second half of this year. By March of 2024, the airline expects 33% of the widebody fleet to be upgraded. This means it could see six A350s (one is in India), five B77Ls which earlier operated for Delta (all are operational) and the B77Ws coming from Etihad and Singapore Airlines.
Watch Air India's New Advertisement here:
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