How Air India is capitalizing on growth opportunities with seating
What's the story
Air India, which has been under the Tata Group's leadership since January 2022, has announced plans to expand its premium economy and business class seating capacity.
The decision comes as part of a larger strategy to leverage "huge growth opportunities" in the aviation sector.
The airline's Chief Commercial Officer, Nipun Aggarwal, confirmed that load factors for these premium segments have increased significantly due to better customer experience and flight timings.
Growth trajectory
Revenue growth and expansion plans
Under Tata Group's management, Air India has witnessed a tenfold growth in revenues, hitting nearly $10 billion from less than $1 billion in FY20.
The airline now operates 1,168 daily flights, including 313 international services.
Aggarwal noted that the front cabin (premium economy and business class) has seen a revenue growth of nearly 2.3X while the back cabin (economy class) has grown by 1.3X.
Seating upgrade
Enhancing premium seating in wide-body aircraft
Aggarwal also revealed plans to expand the premium cabin on wide-body aircraft.
He said, "In the retrofit we are doing, we will add more premium seats...we are almost doubling the premium seats in the wide bodies...business and premium economy."
The airline also plans to add first-class seating on its wide-body A350-1000 planes, a feature already offered on many of its Boeing 777 aircraft.
Strategic overhaul
Network rationalization
By mid-2025, the airline hopes to provide 53,000 premium seats on metro-to-metro routes with new/upgraded products. Aggarwal also highlighted ongoing work in network rationalization and flight timing realignment, to optimize capacity utilization on both domestic and international routes.
Operational efficiency
Air India reduces overlapping routes and connecting times
Aggarwal observed a decrease in overlapping domestic routes from 29 to 20 and international ones from 23 to six.
He said these changes are part of an ongoing exercise depending on market dynamics.
The average connecting time for domestic to international flights has been reduced by half, from 6.30 hours to just 3.30 hours, enhancing passenger itineraries significantly.
Connectivity goals
Aim to boost international connectivity
Aggarwal revealed that Air India is eyeing markets with potential for greater international-to-international (I to I) connectivity.
Currently, the I to I traffic is around 10% and the airline hopes to increase it to 15-20% over the next three years.
He also shared plans for further realignment of flight timings between different global destinations, including Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, and North America.