Air India will fly its new first-line-fit Boeing 787-9 with certain limitations as it awaits approvals from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Indian media PTI has reported. The airline is waiting for FAA approval for 18 economy seats as well as its sliding privacy doors for its business class suites, the report said.
New aircraft will fly with some blocked seats
Air India will continue to operate its new Dreamliner while it waits for FAA certifications from Feb. 1, 2026. The report further quoted an Air India spokesperson who said that the aircraft will operate as planned, while the 18 specified seats, for which approval is pending, will not be up for sale until said approval is received. In the meantime, the business class suites will also not be operational, and the sliding privacy doors will remain securely fixed in an open position.
All other seats will be available for passenger use and are fully certified. The regulatory issues specifically relate to the 18 economy seats and business suites.
The airline had announced earlier this month that its new custom Boeing 787-9 aircraft will begin commercial operations on the Mumbai-Frankfurt route from Feb. 1. Air India flies between Mumbai and Frankfurt five times a week. With the latest addition, all Air India flights to Germany will be operated by new or upgraded aircraft, including its Delhi-Frankfurt route.
Air India’s fleet updates
Air India has been bullish on fleet expansions and upgrades, with additional deliveries and retrofits for its widebody fleet planned for 2026.
The new custom Dreamliner, with the registration VT-AWA, is equipped with 296 seats across three cabin classes: Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. It features bespoke cabin interiors that have been installed directly on Boeing’s production line.
Its current fleet is made up of 33 Boeing 787 aircraft, which include 26 legacy Boeing 787-8s and 7 Boeing 787-9s. The airline will receive a total of six widebody aircraft deliveries this year, which includes Airbus A350-1000 and Boeing 787-9, namely the recently delivered VT-AWA.
Air India, in a press release, said:
“The new cabins of the Boeing 787-9 will become the new benchmark across our Boeing 787 fleet. In line with this, 26 of Air India’s legacy Boeing 787-8 aircraft are progressively undergoing retrofits.”
“The programme is well underway, with many of these aircraft scheduled to complete the process and return to service with refreshed nose-to-tail refit in 2026, including a fresh livery in the new Air India branding. What this effectively means is that by the end of this year, nearly 60% of our widebody fleet will have modern interiors,” it added.
What do you think of Air India’s new retrofitting programme and the limitations for its latest Dreamliner? Share your thoughts in the comments.
