Air India

Air India is an airline in upheaval – and that is exactly what makes it so exciting for spotters. Since the Tata Group bought the flag carrier back in 2022, its livery, fleet and network have been changing at a pace rarely seen at an airline of this size. Then came the merger with Vistara in 2024. The result: on a single day in Delhi or London, you can get three different looks of the same airline in your viewfinder. This page shows you how to tell them apart.

Air India at a glance

Air India is India’s flag carrier and a classic network airline: domestic traffic with the Airbus A320 family, long-haul with the Boeing 777, Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. The most important hub is Delhi Airport, joined by Mumbai and Bengaluru. Air India moved its headquarters to Gurugram near Delhi in 2023. According to common overviews, the airline served around 87 destinations at the end of 2025, about half of them domestic.

Air India has been a member of Star Alliance since July 2014. The group also includes the low-cost sister Air India Express. How the two brands are organized under the Tata Group umbrella is explained on the page about the Air India Group.

From Tata Airlines back to Tata: the history

Air India’s history begins on October 15, 1932. On that day, J. R. D. Tata, regarded as India’s first licensed pilot, personally flew the first flight of the new Tata Airlines: airmail from Karachi to Bombay, today’s Mumbai. In 1946, Tata Airlines became a public company named Air India. The same year saw the birth of the mascot that shaped the airline for decades: the Maharaja with his mustache and turban.

In 1948, Air India International began long-haul flights to London, and in 1953 the Indian government nationalized air transport. Air India took over the international routes, while its sister Indian Airlines took over domestic traffic. In 2007 the two were merged again. What followed were difficult years with heavy losses and an aging fleet.

The turnaround came with privatization. In October 2021, the Tata Group won the bid, and on January 27, 2022, it officially took over Air India – almost 70 years after nationalization, the airline returned to its founder. Tata then announced a comprehensive fresh start: new aircraft, new cabins, a new brand.

The merger with Vistara

Vistara was a joint venture between Tata (51 percent) and Singapore Airlines (49 percent). The airline began operations on January 9, 2015, and was regarded in India as a premium provider with business class even on domestic flights. After taking over Air India, Tata had two full-service airlines – too many for one group. In 2022, Tata and Singapore Airlines therefore announced the merger.

On November 12, 2024, Vistara merged into Air India. The brand disappeared, and around 70 aircraft moved into the Air India fleet: mainly A320neos, A321neos and Boeing 787-9s. Singapore Airlines has held a stake in Air India ever since; its share is 25.1 percent, with the remaining 74.9 percent held by Tata. That ties Air India closely to Singapore Airlines – two Star Alliance members that are now also connected through capital.

For spotters, the merger mainly means one thing: transitional liveries. Ex-Vistara aircraft partly still fly in the dark aubergine look with gold accents until they are repainted at the shipyard. How to log such hybrids cleanly is described in the guide to hybrid and mixed liveries.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code AI: appears in the flight number, on display boards and tickets.
• ICAO code AIC: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers.
• Callsign AIRINDIA: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.
• Registration VT-: India’s country prefix, followed by three letters, such as VT-AN… on the 787-8.

At Air India, the block of letters after VT- is often grouped by type. That is not a fixed rule, but it helps with quick identification: if you know a few registration blocks, you can guess from the registration alone whether a 787 or an A350 is coming.

The fleet: old and new side by side

At the end of 2025, according to common overviews, the fleet comprised around 190 aircraft. The exact number keeps changing as new jets arrive and older leased aircraft go back. The following table shows the types and their roles – without claiming up-to-the-day numbers.

Type	Role	Spotter tip
Airbus A319 / A320	Domestic, older short-haul fleet	Being replaced by the A320neo, becoming rarer
Airbus A320neo	Domestic and regional routes	Largest sub-fleet, many of them ex-Vistara
Airbus A321 / A321neo	Domestic, Gulf region, Asia	A321neo partly still in Vistara look
Airbus A350-900	Long-haul, flagship	Flies in the new livery, 316 seats in three classes
Airbus A350-1000	Long-haul	On order, first deliveries announced from 2026
Boeing 777-300ER	High-demand long-haul	Only type with first class (four seats in the standard cabin)
Boeing 787-8	Long-haul and regional traffic	Backbone of long-haul, cabins being renewed
Boeing 787-9	Long-haul	Ex-Vistara aircraft, plus brand-new ones from the 2023 order

The Airbus A350-900 is the symbol of the fresh start. Air India deployed it from January 22, 2024, initially on domestic routes before moving it to international routes. The larger A350-1000 is on order and will add to the long-haul fleet once it enters service.

At Boeing, the Boeing 787-8 remains the most important long-haul type. Air India was one of the early 787 customers and operates one of the larger 787-8 fleets. The stretched 787-9 joined the fleet with the Vistara merger; more brand-new 787-9s come from the large 2023 order. For high-demand routes – such as to London or North America – Air India uses the Boeing 777-300ER. The classic Boeing 747-400 is history: the last four examples were sold to a parts dealer in 2024.

The major order of 2023

In February 2023, Air India ordered 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing in one go – one of the largest orders in aviation history. It included 210 aircraft of the A320neo family, 40 A350s, 190 Boeing 737 MAX, 20 Boeing 787-9s and 10 Boeing 777-9s. In December 2024, 100 more Airbus aircraft were added, 90 from the A320neo family and 10 A350s. The 737 MAX are mainly intended for Air India Express.

At the same time, Air India is investing in its existing fleet. In September 2024, a retrofit program for the older jets began, starting with new cabins on the A320neos. The widebody aircraft follow step by step: the first refurbished 787-8 returned to Delhi in April 2026, with the 777-300ERs to follow. You see little of this from the outside – but the retrofit often coincides with a new paint job.

How to recognize Air India

On August 10, 2023, Air India presented a new brand with a new livery. Since then, deep red, aubergine and gold have defined the look. On the tail sits a large, sweeping pattern reminiscent of a chakra and of traditional window arches. The new logo is called “The Vista” and shows, in gold, the tip of such a window arch. The Maharaja steps well into the background in the new brand.

The older livery from 2007 is also still out there: white fuselage, red tail and a stylized swan containing the Konark wheel – an allusion to the sun wheel of the Konark Temple. Then there are the ex-Vistara aircraft in aubergine. If you photograph all three variants, you have the airline’s transition period completely in your archive.

There are also special liveries. Several aircraft wear the Star Alliance look in white and gray with a large alliance logo, including examples of the A320neo and the 777-300ER. How alliance liveries differ is shown in the article on Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam liveries.

Spotting Air India in Europe

In Germany, Frankfurt is the place where you are most likely to see Air India: the airline flies there from Delhi and Mumbai. Düsseldorf used to be in the network as well but is no longer served. For Frankfurt, the Zeppelinheim viewing platform is a good choice, for example; you can find more spots and tips in the plane spotting guide for Frankfurt and on the page about Frankfurt Airport.

You get to see significantly more Air India in the UK. The airline flies to London Heathrow, and also to London Gatwick and Birmingham. Heathrow is the most important destination, with flights from several Indian cities. Classic spots are Myrtle Avenue and Hatton Cross; the Heathrow guide has the details. Other European destinations include Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Zurich, Copenhagen, Milan and Rome.

If you are traveling to India yourself, find out exactly what is allowed before taking photos: the rules for photos at airports there are much stricter than in Europe. What applies is explained in the article Plane spotting in India. In Delhi, alongside Air India you mainly meet IndiGo and Akasa Air.

The crash of Flight AI171

The history also includes the most serious accident of Air India’s recent past. On June 12, 2025, a Boeing 787-8 with the registration VT-ANB crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad on its way to London Gatwick. 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 people on the ground lost their lives; one passenger survived. India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the investigation. Its preliminary report from July 2025 describes how the fuel switches of both engines moved from “Run” to “Cutoff” shortly after liftoff. The AAIB publishes the current status of the final report. We leave any assessment of the cause to the authorities.

Common mix-ups

• Mixing up Air India and Air India Express – the low-cost sister has its own look and flies with the IATA code IX; you practically never see it in Europe.
• Logging ex-Vistara jets as a separate airline – since November 2024 they fly for Air India, even if they still wear aubergine.
• Treating the old and new livery as the same – for a clean collection, it pays to note the livery separately.
• Taking an A350 for a 787 – the dark window mask gives away the Airbus.
• Taking a 777-300ER for a 787-9 – the 777 has six wheels per main gear and much larger engines. More under Telling apart the Boeing 777 and 787.
• Taking Air India for part of Singapore Airlines – Singapore Airlines holds a stake, but the majority lies with Tata.

Conclusion

Air India is in the middle of the biggest overhaul in its history. Under Tata, the airline has taken over Vistara, placed one of the largest aircraft orders ever and given itself a new brand. For spotters this is a special phase: the old livery with the red swan, the new look in red, aubergine and gold, and ex-Vistara jets are all flying at the same time. If you log registration, type and livery now, you are documenting a transition period that will be over in a few years.