Air India passengers on these five metro routes can relive the Vistara experience with A320neo

All Air India flights on five key metro-to-metro routes will be operated using the former Vistara A320neo aircraft, offering passengers a choice of three cabin classes on these routes. Starting December 1, 2024, the airline will deploy its best narrowbody aircraft — formerly part of the Vistara fleet — on these high-demand routes.

The routes include:

• Delhi–Mumbai
• Delhi–Bengaluru
• Delhi–Hyderabad
• Mumbai–Bengaluru
• Mumbai–Hyderabad

These flights will now feature Business, Premium Economy, and Economy Class cabins, reflecting the premium standards introduced by Vistara. Flights will operate under ‘AI’-prefixed four-digit flight numbers beginning with ‘2,’ such as AI2999 on the Delhi-Mumbai route.

These planes offer a three-class configuration: Business, Premium Economy, and Economy. Each flight will be identified by an ‘AI’-prefixed four-digit flight number starting with ‘2,’ such as AI2999 for Delhi to Mumbai.

Despite optimising schedules to ensure departures are evenly distributed throughout the day, Air India has retained an impressive frequency across these metro routes. The airline now operates over 1,000 weekly flights, including 56 daily flights on Delhi-Mumbai, 36 on Delhi-Bengaluru, 24 on Delhi-Hyderabad, 22 on Mumbai-Bengaluru, and 18 on Mumbai-Hyderabad.

Air India's aircraft on the five key metro-to-metro routes are equipped with 8 luxurious Business Class seats, each offering 41 inches of pitch, 7 inches of recline, along with a leg rest and footrest. In the Premium Economy Class, there are 24 extra legroom seats with 33 inches of pitch and 4 inches of recline. Economy Class features 132 comfortable seats, each offering 29 inches of standard pitch and 3 inches of recline.

"The merger of Vistara into Air India has unlocked many new opportunities to improve our customer offering. By combining the strengths of both full-service carriers, we are able to consolidate our best narrowbody offering on routes where there is desire for a high-frequency, full-service product," Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD of Air India, said.

Campbell said Air India will progressively expand the coverage to more routes as the airline inducts new aircraft and completes the retrofit of its legacy narrowbody fleet during 2025.

Air India has launched a $400 million refurbishment programme to overhaul 67 of its older aircraft while it seeks to grow into a world-class airline.

The Tata Group announced on Nov 12 the completion of the merger between Air India and Vistara, consolidating the two carriers into a single full-service airline under the Air India brand. Singapore Airlines (SIA), which previously held a 49% stake in Vistara, now owns a 25.1% stake in the expanded Air India group and has committed to further capital investments in the entity.