B777 Air India

1. B777 Air India Aircraft
2. Air India Boeing 777 300er
3. Boeing 777 Air India One
4. Boeing 777 Air India Seat Map
5. B777 Air India Pilot
6. Boeing 777 Air India Business Class

Air India One (also referred to as AI-1^[1] or AIC001) is the call sign of the aircraft with the President, Vice President or Prime Minister of India on board. Air India is the national airline of India.^[2] The aircraft is operated as VVIP flight by the Indian Air Force (IAF).^[3] The IAF's Air Headquarters Communication Squadron, based at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, is in charge of operating these aircraft. The new Boeing 777-300ER planes have arrived in India.^[4]

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR LIVE STORIES OF OUR FLIGHTS:SOCIAL MEDIA -FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/Simply. Air India, the National Carrier of India, offers connections to over 70 international and 100 domestic destinations for your travel plan. Book now and avail extra baggage allowance, business class upgrades and flexible change and rebooking options.

• Air India Fleet of B777 (Active) - Aviation website for aircraft and airline information (flight, photo, travel, fleet listing, production list of Airbus Boeing Douglas Embraer Dash, ATR, Sukhoi, Saab.), plane photos, flightlog database, aviation news, civil aviation forum, aviation store.
• Air India had sent the two long-haul Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to a Boeing facility in Dallas to be modified for VVIP travel. The aircraft will only be used by PM Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath.

Current fleet[edit]

Apart from the Boeing 747-400s owned by Air India and used on international state visits, the IAF currently owns four 14 seater Embraer 135, four 20 seater Embraer 145 and three customised 46 seater Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) that have a VIP cabin and are used for VIP movement. Of these the Boeing 747s are used by either the Prime Minister, President or Vice President when on official overseas visits.^[5][6]

Each Embraer 135 is equipped with missile-deflecting systems, modern flight management system including global positioning system, as well as category II instrument landing system. These aircraft cost the IAF ₹1.4 billion (US$20 million) each.^[6] The Three BBJs, named Rajdoot, Rajhans and Rajkamal cost the IAF ₹9.34 billion (US$130 million) each (₹7.34 billion (US$100 million) for the actual aircraft plus an additional ₹2 billion (US$28 million) for Self Protection Suites).^[3][5] Self-protection suites include radar warning receivers, it also has highly trained commandos to protect the president/vice/prime minister, missile-approach warning and counter-measure systems. The aircraft has the capability to shoot chaff and flares to deviate radar-guided and heat-seeking missiles off their track along with other security tools. The other security instruments are undisclosed by the Indian Air Force.

The onboard electronics include about 238 miles of wiring (twice the amount found in a normal 747). Heavy shielding is tough enough to protect the wiring and crucial electronics from the electromagnetic pulse associated with a nuclear blast.^[7]

The President is designated VIP 1, The Vice-President, VIP 2, and The Prime Minister, VIP 3. The BBJs have a four class configuration. For the President/Prime Minister, there is a separate enclosure in the aircraft which includes an office and a bedroom. Everyone aboard Air India One is required to wear a colour-coded identity card. Members of the official delegation (Joint Secretary level and above) are tagged in purple and sit in First Class while accompanying the VIPs. The accompanying officials (junior bureaucrats and support staff) are tagged in pink. The support staff, president's cooks and butlers join the security team from the Delhi police (not SPG) are tagged in red, while Journalists, sport a prominent Yellow tag.^[8]

As they have become less cost-effective to operate, the Indian Air Force have replaced the present Boeing 747-400 with the Boeing 777-300ER. The planes in question have arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in New Delhi.^[4]

Replacements[edit]

Two custom-made Boeing 777 planes, which will be used to fly the President, Vice-President and Prime Minister from July 2021, will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force and not of Air India. However, the new wide-body planes will be maintained by Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), which is a subsidiary of the Indian national carrier, Air India^[9]

The planes in question have landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) in New Delhi as of 1 October 2020.^[4]

Security Upgrade[edit]

The government of India has requested to buy two SPS consisting of LAIRCM Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite, Counter-Measures Dispensing System (CMDS) to protect two Boeing-777-300ER (white colour livery)

Head-of-State aircraft. This potential sale would include: twelve guardian laser transmitter assemblies… missile warning sensors.. counter-measures dispensing system..,' the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), that comes under the US department of defence, said in a statement, adding, 'Also included in this sale are Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites…'

Indian Air Force One (if AI is privatised) aircraft will be equipped with 'large aircraft infrared countermeasures (LAIRCM) self-protection suites (SPS) for an estimated cost of $190 million”. The US State Department has approved the 'foreign military sale' of two B777 LAIRCM SPS.^[10]

Boeing had delivered the two B777 300 extended range (ER) to Air India in January 2018. The airline sent these two to Fort Worth in Dallas last summer for being retrofitted with the latest security and communication systems so that they can replace the over 26-year-old jumbo jets used by the president, VP and PM for long international flights. The two are with Boeing Defence for retrofitting with the latest security and communication systems. The two planes were expected to be in India by July 2020. Due to technological issues, the delivery date was deferred by more than a month.^[11] First of these aircraft arrived in New Delhi on 1 October 2020, ^[12] while the second one arrived on 25 October.^[13]

See also[edit]

• Air Force One - Official aircraft of the President of the United States of America
• Japanese Air Force One - Official presidential aircraft (currently two Boeing 777-300ER) of Japan

References[edit]

1. ^'Air India One, Seat No 59G'. 26 September 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
2. ^'Manmohan Singh to travel in Air India One Agra'. Topnews.in. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
3. ^ ^ab'April 1 date for President with business jets'. Zee News. 16 March 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
4. ^ ^abcANI (1 October 2020). 'First VVIP aircraft 'Air India One' for President, PM to arrive today India News - Times of India'. The Times of India. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
5. ^ ^ab'India's own Air Force One takes to the skies'. The Hindu. 1 April 2009. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
6. ^ ^ab'VVIPs get their special jets'. 21 September 2005. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
7. ^'Know about Air India One! (Air India 1 – AI 1)'. Aviation Thrust. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
8. ^Nayyar, Dhiraj (26 September 2010). 'Air India One, Seat No 59G - Indian Express'. Indian Express. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
9. ^'IAF pilots to fly Modi on new 'Air India One' from next July'. The Week. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
10. ^'Upcoming Air India One to get massive security overhaul - Flying fortress'. The Economic Times. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
11. ^'Air India One from US deferred due to technical reasons'. Big News Network.com. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
12. ^'PM's new special aircraft, equipped with missile defence systems, lands in Delhi'. Hindustan Times. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
13. ^'Air India One: Second VVIP aircraft in Prime Minister and President's fleet arrives in Delhi'. Hindustan Times. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.

The internet is littered with unflattering trip reports about Air India’s business class, with travellers complaining of surly service, out-of-date equipment and poor quality catering.

B777 Air India Aircraft

After waiting to step foot on a long-haul plane for nearly six months, I was happy to take the opportunity to fly the national carrier’s Boeing 777 - an aircraft usually used for much longer, international routes - on the short hop from Delhi to Mumbai. Was the business class experience as bad as expected?

Flight: AI 537
Delhi (DEL) T3 - Mumbai (BOM) T2
Date: August 23, 2020
Departure: 17:00
Arrival: 19:15
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 8F
Cabin: Business class

Booking my Air India Boeing 777 flight

My original economy class booking was made with an online travel agent just a couple of days before travel. Later, there was a change in plan and so I decided to reschedule the flight, but Air India had other plans and I had to go through a lot of hassle while trying to communicate my concerns with them.

I had to eventually let go of the entire original booking amount, only because Air India wasn’t competent enough to provide a better service.

Since I was eager to try out Air India’s long-haul product, I decided to once again book the same journey a few days later, though this time around with Air India itself.

My new booking was again in economy class, and I upgraded it to business class at the check-in counter at Delhi airport. The cost was INR 5,099 (USD 70) for the initial booking in economy, and INR 7,840 (USD 107) for the upgrade.

My experience at Delhi airport

I arrived at the airport at around 3.45pm for my 5pm flight, and had to show the ticket and ID proof before entering the airport, as is normal practice. Only this time, the official was checking it from behind a protective screen.

I headed straight to Air India's business class counter at terminal 3 and got the upgrade and check-in process complete. Post which I rushed towards Air India’s Maharaja lounge, as I was running short on time and I wanted to grab a quick bite before getting on the plane.

Sadly, Maharaja lounge wasn’t serving any food, unlike their next door neighbours, Plaza Premium Lounge, who were serving a full spread of veg and non-veg platter. You could either get access to this lounge with select cards or pay INR 1,414 (USD 19).

Since I didn’t have the luxury of time, I chose to give it a pass and had a quick bite from McDonald’s (located on the same floor).

My experience at Delhi airport was the complete opposite of what I had at Chennai airport while I was waiting for theVistara A321neo on the first day of commercial service. This was more lively and a lot of shops were open here.

My boarding gate was 28B, and on my way to the gate I managed to get a few good pictures of some aircraft, including the plane I would be flying today.

The boarding was normal, there was a separate queue for premium class passengers and there was only one person (a pilot) before me in the line.

We boarded the flight using the front gate, and passed through the first class cabin, which consists of just four seats, set up across one row in a 1-2-1 configuration on this aircraft.

This product features fully-flat beds and I was impressed with how everything looked. The seats did not look dated and the cabin actually reminded me a little of Air France's La Premiere first class (though Air India's version is obviously not as luxurious).

Air India B777-300ER business class review

The moment I stepped inside the cabin, I could judge how outdated the product was, by the choice of colour and overall design of the hard product.

I think Air India urgently needs to start adapting to the changing times and build a personality. I hope the privatisation will let us see the glory days and the charming character of the company again.

The business class cabin is divided by a galley into two sections - the one in front where I was seated has three rows, while the one behind only has two. Business class on this aircraft was in a 2-3-2 configuration, meaning a total of 35 seats.

The only silver lining about this flight was the fact that I was able to meet and chat with a couple of veteran Air India pilots and gain some useful insights into the world of aviation from them.

There was no service on this flight, which was made clear with an announcement at the beginning, stating that there will be no blankets, cushion and IFE provided. Eating on the flight was also prohibited then, which has now thankfully changed as the in-flight meals are once again permitted to be served.

The flight took off at 5.20pm, and I began checking out the various features of the seat, which I initially felt was pretty comfortable and clean as well (I mention that because people have complained in the past about seeing dirt accumulated on their seats).

That happiness was only short lived, as I was quite disgusted by the state of the tray table compartment. It was very dirty, and moreover a plastic sticker came out flying as I pulled the tray out.

The tray table was small and in a bad condition, there were several dents on it which made it evident that the maintenance wasn’t up to the mark.

The IFE system (including the controller) was quite old, and the IFE controller compartment in the side handle said a similar story like the tray table’s, though not as bad.

Other than the custom seat position to meet your preference, there are three select positions on the control panel which you can choose from.

Air India states on its website that these seats are “180 degree” fully flat bed, though that’s not the case. It remains slightly inclined.

The privacy screens between the seats is retractable and does the job when the seat is reclined.

There is a plug point and a USB port provided at the seat, along with a ‘push to use’ glass holder.

There isn’t any storage space at the seat, other than the pocket in front of you. I stored the two water bottles over there, which were provided at the start of the flight (the only service I received).

My journey was overall a comfortable one, including a smooth take off and landing, thanks to the experienced Air India pilots at the front.

Air India Boeing 777 300er

I didn’t get a chance to lie down during this flight, as I got talking to the captains flying with me and the two-hour flight soon passed. I was lucky to have such nice company during this flight, which made it a memorable one for me.

All the passengers deboarded from the second gate upon arrival in Mumbai, while premium class passengers were given priority.

Boeing 777 Air India One

I was able to take a look inside the economy cabin, which didn't look much fun considering the basic seating and out-of-date IFE equipment. I have added some pictures here…

Summing up

Boeing 777 Air India Seat Map

My experience of Air India’s 777 business class product was alright for my short flight from Delhi to Mumbai, but it’s important to remember that this is the same aircraft used on much longer routes (such as those to the US) and I wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about spending 12 hours in this seat.

It was a huge disappointment to see that there was no regard for customer’s comfort. Many of the business class seats including mine, were not in the best of shapes - one can only imagine what it must be like for the economy passengers.

B777 Air India Pilot

Speaking to the captains flying with me, I got a sense that not much has changed in terms of flying, other than the precautions taken for Covid in the cockpit. Both of the pilots however felt that the privatisation of the airline will bring about a lot of positive changes.

Boeing 777 Air India Business Class

With this kind of experience, I honestly don’t feel very driven to choose Air India again, however I would like to fly it on a longer route when the services are back on, purely for the sake of reviewing the full product.

Have you flown Air India’s long-haul business class product? What are your thoughts about it?