Air India has signed a 10-year maintenance agreement with Thales Group for its FlytCARE services, covering inflight entertainment (IFE) systems across 57 Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
The agreement includes support for Thales’ AVANT Up IFE systems, which will be installed on existing Boeing 777 and Boeing 787-8 aircraft as part of retrofit programmes, as well as on new Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350 deliveries over the next two years.
Under the FlytCARE contract, Thales will provide line maintenance, spares provisioning, repairs and logistics management. Maintenance and repair activities will be supported from Thales facilities located at Delhi and Mumbai airports.
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The agreement also covers 12 new widebody aircraft equipped with the AVANT Up system. The IFE platform includes 4K HDR touchscreens, USB-C and USB-A charging ports, and Bluetooth connectivity for personal devices.
Jeremy Yew, Senior Vice President – Engineering & Maintenance at Air India, said: “Ensuring the highest levels of reliability and uptime for our inflight entertainment systems is critical to delivering a world-class experience for our guests. Our partnership with Thales under the FlytCARE programme strengthens Air India’s engineering ecosystem with faster turnaround, deeper technical support, and enhanced component availability. This collaboration directly supports our fleet modernization and our commitment to engineering excellence.”
Thomas Got, Vice President, Aviation Global Services at Thales, said: “Thales is grateful to Air India for their trust in awarding us a 10-year FlytCARE service contract for IFE equipment, which plays a key role in ensuring an exceptional passenger experience. We are honored to strengthen our long-standing partnership with Air India as they transform their inflight entertainment experience.”
The FlytCARE agreement forms part of Air India’s broader fleet modernisation programme, including upgrades to onboard systems and passenger-facing cabin technologies.
