Air India Group

A widebody jet with a red belly and a tail in aubergine and gold on approach to Heathrow, an orange-and-turquoise Boeing 737 on the apron in Dubai, an A320neo in a mixed livery of two airlines in Delhi: all three belong to the Air India Group. Behind it stands the Tata Group, which founded the airline in 1932, lost it to the state in 1953 and bought it back in 2022. Since then, more has changed than in the decades before: four airlines became two brands, the fleet is being renewed with one of the largest orders in aviation history, and the livery is new too. For your logbook, that means: looking closely pays off.

From Tata Airlines to state airline

The story begins with a mail flight. On October 15, 1932, J. R. D. Tata, the first Indian with a pilot’s license, flew a small de Havilland Puss Moth from Karachi via Ahmedabad to Bombay. That was the starting signal for Tata Airlines, a division of the industrial group of the same name. The mail service quickly became a passenger operation, and in 1946 Tata converted the airline into a joint-stock company – with a new name: Air India.

With India’s independence, the state came into play. It first took a stake in the international arm, and in 1953 it finally took the majority. Aviation was reorganized: Air India International flew abroad, and the state-owned Indian Airlines took over the domestic network. J. R. D. Tata remained chairman for a long time, but the airline no longer belonged to his group.

The following decades made Air India a symbol of modern India. In 1960 came the Boeing 707 – making Air India the first Asian airline with jets. Before that, the Super Constellation had shaped long-haul. In 1971, the first jumbo landed, a Boeing 747-200B named “Emperor Ashoka”, and from 1986 the Airbus A310 supplemented the fleet. The best-known trademark of this era was the Maharaja, the mascot with a turban and mustache that advertised Air India for decades.

Merger, crisis and privatization

In 2007, the government merged Air India and Indian Airlines. On paper, that was a strong national carrier; in practice, two workforces, two fleets and heavy debts came together. The airline posted losses for years and had to be propped up by the state again and again. A first attempt to join Star Alliance was suspended in 2011 because Air India did not yet meet the requirements. On July 11, 2014, joining finally worked after all.

In parallel, competition grew at home. Private airlines such as IndiGo and SpiceJet conquered the market with low fares. Tata itself also returned to aviation: with AirAsia India, together with Malaysia’s AirAsia group, and with Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines. Vistara took off on its first flight from Delhi to Mumbai on January 9, 2015, and positioned itself as a premium airline.

After several failed sale attempts, the turnaround came in October 2021: the government awarded Air India to Tata. The package included Air India, the low-cost subsidiary Air India Express and half of the ground handling company AISATS. The enterprise value was 180 billion rupees. On January 27, 2022, the airline was handed over – after about 69 years, Air India was back with the family that had founded it. The regional subsidiary Alliance Air was not part of the package and stayed with the state.

The group at a glance

After the takeover, Tata quickly tidied up. Four airlines – Air India, Air India Express, Vistara and AirAsia India – became two brands. How groups generally build such brand families is explained in the article Multi-brand strategies of airlines.

In corporate-law terms, Air India Limited is the parent. Air India Express is its subsidiary, and the stake in AISATS also hangs on the group. Since the Vistara merger, Singapore Airlines has held 25.1 percent of Air India, Tata Sons the rest. N. Chandrasekaran, head of the Tata holding company, is chairman. Operationally, New Zealander Campbell Wilson led the airline from 2022; in August 2026, Tewolde GebreMariam, longtime head of Ethiopian Airlines, was appointed CEO and managing director (as of October 2026).

Air India: the network airline

Air India is the core of the group. The most important hub is at Delhi Airport, with Mumbai and Bengaluru added. From there, the airline links the huge Indian domestic network with Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Australia and the Gulf region. As a member of Star Alliance, it works with partners such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United; a comparison of the alliances is provided in the article Star Alliance, oneworld and SkyTeam.

The widebody fleet consists of Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 787-8s, the 787-9s taken over from Vistara and the Airbus A350-900. The first A350s joined the fleet from the end of 2023 and entered scheduled service in January 2024. On short- and medium-haul, Air India flies the A320 family, from the older A319 and A321 to the A320neo and A321neo. How to tell neo and ceo apart is shown in the article A320neo or ceo?.

Some types are already history. The Boeing 747-400, long also used for government flights, left the fleet for good in 2024 when the last aircraft were sold. The 777-200LR, with which Air India once flew ultra-long-haul routes, has also had its heyday: the airline sold part of those aircraft as early as 2013 and 2014.

A large cabin retrofit program for the older aircraft is running in parallel. The narrowbodies of the A320neo family have already been converted, and the retrofit of the 787-8s and 777-300ERs is under way. For you, that means: individual aircraft keep disappearing into the maintenance hangar for weeks and often reappear freshly painted.

Vistara: the premium subsidiary that merged into Air India

In its almost ten years, Vistara was a favorite of many spotters. The joint venture was 51 percent owned by Tata Sons and 49 percent by Singapore Airlines, flew under the IATA code UK and relied on a refined livery in aubergine and gold. The fleet consisted of A320neo family jets, including A321LRs, and seven Boeing 787-9s.

With Tata’s takeover of Air India, it was clear that two full-service airlines under one roof would not coexist permanently. At the end of 2022, Tata and Singapore Airlines agreed on the merger, and in 2023 and 2024 the competition authority and court gave the green light. On November 12, 2024, the merger was completed. Around 70 aircraft moved to Air India, and Singapore Airlines received 25.1 percent of the merged company in return.

For spotters, the merger is a gift with an expiry date. As long as the repainting is under way, former Vistara jets fly in their old design, in mixed forms or already in Air India colors. How to recognize such transitional liveries and log them correctly is explained in the article Recognizing hybrid and mixed liveries. Important for your logbook: the operator is now Air India, even if the fuselage still says “Vistara”.

Air India Express: orange and turquoise

Air India Express started on April 29, 2005, as a low-cost subsidiary of Air India. Its original focus was routes from South and West India to the Gulf states, where many Indian workers live. For a long time, it flew almost exclusively the Boeing 737-800.

After the Tata takeover, Air India Express became the collecting point of the low-cost business. On October 1, 2024, AIX Connect, the former AirAsia India, merged into it. That brought Airbus jets of the A320 family into what had been an all-Boeing fleet. At the same time, the fleet of Boeing 737 MAX 8s is growing strongly, because a large part of the 737 MAXs in the record order is intended for Air India Express. The basics of the business model are described in the article How low-cost carriers work.

Since October 2023, Air India Express has carried its own design in orange and turquoise. The tails show patterns inspired by Indian textile and folk art – not every aircraft looks the same, which makes the airline a small collecting challenge. Domestically, Air India Express competes mainly with IndiGo and Akasa Air.

The airline’s history also includes two serious accidents: in 2010, a 737-800 overran the runway end at Mangalore, and in 2020 another 737-800 crashed on landing at the tabletop airport of Kozhikode.

The record order of 2023

In February 2023, Air India made headlines worldwide: the airline ordered 470 aircraft in one go, spread across both big manufacturers.

In December 2024, 100 more Airbus jets followed, and since then the group has added more and converted individual positions – for example A321neos into the A321XLR. The order backlog also includes the A350-1000, whose first examples are expected from 2026. The Boeing 777-9 is on order, but its delivery date depends on the type’s certification. All figures reflect the status as of October 2026; deliveries are currently often shifting across the industry.

Behind the order stands the transformation plan Vihaan, which Air India presented in September 2022. Besides the fleet, it covers cabins, network, service and maintenance. For you as a spotter, that mainly means: at Airbus and Boeing, new aircraft for Air India are constantly rolling out of the hall, often already in the new livery. You learn to tell the A350 and the 787 apart in the article A350 or Boeing 787?.

Liveries: from the Konark wheel to the window frame

In August 2023, Air India presented its new brand identity. The centerpiece is a golden frame called “Vista”, which recalls the arched windows of Indian palaces. The livery relies on a white fuselage with large Air India titles, a red lower body and a tail in aubergine and red with a golden window motif. One of the first jets in the new design was the A350.

The old design shows the red flying swan, designed as part of the Konark wheel – a motif after the Konark Sun Temple. Many aircraft, especially older widebodies, still fly with it but are being repainted step by step. If you want to document the transition phase, now is the right time. Targeted tips for hunting special designs are given in the article Finding special liveries.

Flight AI171: a severe blow

On June 12, 2025, Air India flight AI171 crashed shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad. The Boeing 787-8 was on its way to London-Gatwick. Of the 242 people on board, only one survived, and numerous people also died on the ground. It was the first hull loss of a Boeing 787. The investigation is led by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which has already published a preliminary report. For the cause, we refer to its publications rather than speculation. For spotters, the subject is above all a reason for respect: pictures of the crash site or of the affected registration do not belong in the collection.

Experiencing Air India in Europe

In India itself, spotting is difficult. Airports are considered sensitive facilities, there are no official spotter locations at the hubs, and security forces react quickly. What you need to observe on site is covered in the article Plane spotting in India. The easier way therefore leads through Europe.

The most important place is London-Heathrow, where Air India lands several times a day with widebody jets. Good locations are Hatton Cross and Myrtle Avenue, more in the guide Plane spotting at Heathrow. Birmingham is also served by Air India, and in Germany Frankfurt is the classic destination. Which routes are served with which type changes with the schedule – check the status before visiting.

The surroundings: competition and comparison

In the Indian market, IndiGo is the biggest rival, with a huge fleet of the A320neo family. Add SpiceJet and Akasa Air. Internationally, Air India competes mainly with the Gulf airlines, which bring many Indians to Europe and North America via their hubs. The partnership with Singapore Airlines also ties Air India closely to Southeast Asia.

Compared with European groups such as the Lufthansa Group, the Air India Group is lean: one network airline, one low-cost brand, no regional operators of its own. Similarly clear-cut is the Qantas Group, where the parent airline is likewise the group’s top at once.

Conclusion

The Air India Group is a group in transition: back with Tata, consolidated into two brands and in the middle of a fleet renewal that has few equals. Air India stands for long-haul with 777, 787 and A350, Air India Express for low-cost traffic with the 737 and A320 family. If you read livery, fuselage titles, callsign and registration together, you assign every sighting correctly – and if you still want to capture old Konark wheel liveries or former Vistara jets, use the next few years.