We know that Air India is currently undergoing a major transformation, after being privatized. This includes ordering hundreds of new planes, and trying to greatly improve the passenger experience. As you might expect, this is no small project, both given the state of Air India’s legacy fleet, plus the general industry constraints (delays with aircraft deliveries, new seats, etc.).
There’s now an exciting update — around four years after being privatized, Air India has finally introduced its first new wide body aircraft with custom interiors. This also marks the launch of one of Air India’s new wide body business class products.
However, don’t expect much consistency when it comes to the quality of the carrier’s new business class, as the airline is reportedly planning to introduce three different long haul business class seats.
Air India selects Elevate Ascent seat for Boeing 787s
Air India has selected the Elevate Ascent seat as its new Boeing 787 business class:
The Elevate Ascent product is in a 1-2-1 configuration, with all seats having direct aisle access. This is a reverse herringbone product, with seats also boasting privacy doors. 787-8s will be configured with 20 business class seats, while 787-9s will be configured with 30 business class seats.
In terms of seat specifications, each seat will have 42″ of pitch, with seats reclining into 79″ flat beds. Seats will also have 17″ 4K QLED HDR touchscreens, IFE handsets, bluetooth audio pairing, wireless charging, USB-A and USB-C charging, a height adjustable armrest, and plenty of storage.
For context, the Elevate Ascent product is designed as part of a joint venture with Boeing, and is specifically intended for the 787. That’s why you’ll also find this seat on the newest Boeing 787-9s of Qatar Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, and American Airlines, and soon it’ll also be debuting on United Airlines.
What’s cool is that both retrofitted 787-8s and newly delivered 787-9s are joining the fleet around the same time, so we should see a good number of these planes flying over the coming year or so.
Air India plans two other new business class products
Air India’s wide body business class fleet renewal isn’t at all what we’ve been expecting. Keep in mind that back in 2023, Air India unveiled its planned new first & business class products, which were at least supposed to be retrofitted on Boeing 777s, and installed on newly delivered Airbus A350s.
The Star Alliance carrier had selected the Safran Unity product as its primary new business class seat, which is the same product you’ll find in Japan Airlines’ A350 business class, and I’d rank that as being among the best business class seats in the world.
However, since then, Air India has reportedly backtracked on these plans, as reported by Live from a Lounge. It’s not entirely clear why, but the airline no longer intends to introduce the Safran Unity product on any aircraft. Instead, the airline plans to introduce three different kinds of seats, with each fleet type getting a different product:
- As mentioned above, the Boeing 787s will get the Elevate Ascent product, which is a generic seat for the 787
- The retrofitted Boeing 777s are expected to get the Collins Aerospace Elevation, which are also reverse herringbone seats with doors
- The newly delivered Airbus A350s are expected to get the Recaro R7 product, which are staggered seats with doors
These are all fine products, though from a consistency standpoint, it’s bizarre to launch three new business class seats on three different aircraft types, especially when the goal is to elevate the passenger experience. Either way, all of these represent a significant improvement over the current state of things at Air India…
Bottom line
Air India has formally unveiled its new 787 business class, which will be the Elevate Ascent seat, just as you’ll find on American, Hawaiian, and Qatar. This is a reverse herringbone seat with a door, and it’ll be installed on newly delivered 787-9s, plus retrofitted 787-8s.
Air India seems to have totally backtracked on plans to introduce the Safran Unity product as its new “flagship” business class, as the airline now instead focuses on the Collins Aerospace Elevation seat for retrofitted 777s, and the Recaro R7 seat for newly delivered A350s.
What do you make of Air India’s new Dreamliner business class?
