With an aim to woo passengers with deep pockets, cash-strapped Air India on Friday relaunched its business and first-class cabins on international flights offering them iPads, an enhanced choice of food, a range of wines, new upholstery and night kits.
First to benefit from these offers will be passengers destined to the U.S., with the business and economy class of the airline’s Boeing 777 planes expected to be revamped by July-end, followed by the Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Seat occupancy
“Currently, only 60% of our seats in business class on international flights are sold and the rest go empty. We hope this will go up to 80%,” said Air India Chairman and Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola.
He added that Air India earned approximately ₹4 crore from business class seats out of the total daily operational revenue of nearly ₹60 crore.
He hoped that with the premium class being given a facelift, the airline will be able to add ₹2.5 to ₹3 crore to its kitty everyday, helping it garner an additional ₹1,000 crore per year.
The cabin crew too will be seen sporting new uniforms, which includes red and blue sarees as well as kurtis with trousers.
The event was attended by Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Secretary, R.N. Choubey, Mr. Kharola and other senior officials of the airline.
