Is it a drumroll or a war bugle, IndiGo’s recent order of 30 A350 with an option of 70 more has sent a tizzy across the widebody aircraft market in Asia-Pacific. Till about six months back, widebody aircraft was unheard of in India’s domestic market, but the complete picture is changed very drastically. Air India has ordered 34 A350-1000s and six A350-900 with the deliveries already in progress.
If we look at the picture carefully, we can clearly demarcate India for placing the tallest aircraft order in the world. Currently, India has a total of roughly 1600 orders of which 470 are from Air India, 530 from IndiGo and 150 from Akasa Air. This comprises over 50% of the total aircraft orders placed worldwide as of today (May 2024).
Each of these new planes entering service in the next few years will be adorned with operator specific cabin modifications, interiors, livery etc. So, you can image the tremendous scope of aircraft interiors business that India is about to garner in the coming months.
IndiGo’s recent order for 30 A350 widebody aircraft has opened up a huge door of opportunities for aircraft interior companies to look into the retrofit and cabin modifications of the new fleet.
History of IndiGo and seats
In 2006, when IndiGo first started domestic flights, its fleet was equipped with Weber 5600 series seats. The airline then replaced these seats with Dragonfly in 2014. Zodiac Seats US, a subsidiary of Zodiac Aerospace, France later acquired Weber. Going ahead, Zodiac Aerospace was acquired by Safran and the Dragonfly seats selected by IndiGo in 2017 are now re-branded as Safran Z85.
Weber was acquired by Zodiac Seats U.S. LLC, which was a subsidiary of Zodiac Aerospace of France. Zodiac Aerospace was acquired by Safran. The Dragonfly seat which the airline selected in 2017 is now rebranded as Safran Z85. The Z85 is Safran’s best-seller in economy class for short to medium haul flights for high density cabins making them an ideal fit for IndiGo.
Safran Seats and IndiGo enjoyed a long-term marriage up until recently when IndiGo decided to switch to RECARO BL 3710 seats for its 75 A320neos thus marking its third change of seats since inception. With this deal, IndiGo became the first airline in the Indian sub-continent to feature the BL3710 seat of RECARO for their Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft.
The combination of the ergonomic design and weight of less than 10 kg per passenger has made the BL3710 economy class seat a bestseller since it first entered the market in 2019, RECARO claims.
Speaking on this deal, Sanjay Kumar, chief strategy and revenue officer, IndiGo, said, “As we expand our network, domestically and internationally, to cater to the travel demand, the comfortable seats will be key to upgrading the customer experience on board IndiGo.”
Dr. Mark Hiller, chief executive at Recaro Aircraft Seating said, “Our new partnership with IndiGo demonstrates our commitment to not only building a distinct product with a sustainable lifecycle, but also our comprehensive approach to customer service. The BL3710 is an excellent product that will serve both IndiGo and its passengers for many years.”
The RECARO BL3710 is designed to provide maximum comfort and support for passengers during long flights. The seat features a high backrest, which provides ample support for the neck and head, as well as a wider seat cushion, which allows passengers to sit comfortably for extended periods.
In addition to its ergonomic design, the RECARO BL3710 also incorporates several innovative features that make it a standout choice for airlines. The seat’s lightweight construction helps reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, making it a more environmentally friendly option. The seat also has a modular design, which makes it easy to install and maintain, and allows for quick and efficient replacements if necessary. The new seats are set to enhance the travel experience for passengers, and we can expect other airlines in the region to follow suit in the coming months and years.
Now, the new widebody fleet of 30 A350s will require exquisite finish with three or maybe four class configurations depending on the airline’ demands and digitisation and innovation at its best for an enhanced customer experience. The question is who will retrofit IndiGo’s new widebody fleet? Will the airline opt for RECARO, their latest partners for narrowbody seats, Safran Seats, their long-term partners or Collins Aerospace that bagged a contract from Air India for retrofitting its latest A350-900 fleet? According to sources, IndiGo is still in talks to finalise an interior deal with various industry partners and its only a matter of time before the airline declares who will be retrofitting its new cabins.
While we saw the features of Safran Seats and RECARO BL3710 seats, lets have a look at what Collins Aerospace has done for Air India’s widebody A350-900 fleet.
Air India, A350 and Collins Aerospace
Just recently Air India revealed the first images of its interiors, showcasing all the different cabins. Just as India’s as well as Air India’s first widebody aircraft touched base at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, the chief executive of Air India, Campbell Wilson commented, “As a symbol of the new age of flying, the A350 promises a world-class, long-haul travel experience on our non-stop routes, providing an unparallelled level of comfort. Its excellent flight economics and stateof-the-art technology underscore our dedication to commercially successful operations and to achieving our sustainability goals.”
Air India’s A350-900 boasts 316 seats across a three-class cabin: 28 business class suites in a 1-2-1 configuration, each offering direct aisle access, sliding privacy doors, full-flat beds and a personal wardrobe and stowage space, plus 24 premium economy seats in a 2-4-2 configuration with extra legroom and multiple other differentiating features, and 264 seats arranged in a 3-4-3 layout.
Air India has also presented a new Inflight Entertainment (IFE) offering based on Panasonic eX3 hardware, all equipped with a library with 2,200 hours of content, of which half are movies, including what Air India has dubbed the largest library of Indian content of any airline.
This new IFE platform will be available on long-haul flights from the second half of 2024. In addition to the new A350s that will be arriving from Toulouse, it will also be progressively fitted into Air India’s legacy long-haul fleet, as the airline moves forward with its $400 million retrofit program.
The entire existing fleet will have chinaware with silver mandala decal for business class and all the first-class cabins will have golden mandala decal. The airline’ Maharaja will continue adorn the first and business class chinaware along with a India-inspired, tiffin box-shaped, salt-pepper cruet set in gold finish.
Along with this, Air India has also elevated its first-class amenities kit which will include Ferragamo-designed kits including skincare essentials, accessories, and a keepsake. Loungewear brand TUMI has partnered with Air India for its loungewear slippers. Not only that, the first-class and business class passengers will get to experience memory foam layered mattress toppers and bed premium wool-blended blankets among other things.
The new seats are set to enhance passenger comfort and support, making long flights more enjoyable for all.
The installation of the new seats is also a reflection of India’s domestic airlines evolving efforts to upgrade its fleet with the latest technology and amenities. The airlines are investing heavily in upgrading its aircraft, with a focus on enhancing the in-flight experience for passengers.
All-in-all as the airline industry continues to grow, we can expect to see more innovative seating options and amenities making air travel more luxurious, comfortable and convenient than ever before.