Pictured left to right at Wings India, Jan. 29, 2026: Samir Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, India; Air India CEO Campbell Wilson; Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Hon'ble Minister of Civil Aviation, India; Boeing India and South Asia President Salil Gupte; and Paul Righi, Boeing vice president, Commercial Sales and Marketing, Eurasia, India and South Asia.
Air India bolstered its narrowbody order backlog with commitments for 30 Boeing 737 MAXs and 15 Airbus A321XLRs, continuing a fleet transformation driven by a series of major orders in the last three years.
The Boeing order is 20 737-8s and 10 737-10s, the airline said. The deal converts existing options and builds on the remaining backlog from a 220-aircraft Boeing purchase announced in 2023.
Counting the new 737 commitment, Air India has 198 aircraft on order from Boeing: 169 737 MAXs, 19 787s, and 10 777s, Aviation Week’s Fleet Discovery database shows.
Joining the 30 737s in Air India’s firm-order backlog are 15 Airbus A321XLRs, the airline said. The deal represents converted options from Air India’s existing Airbus commitments. The airline ordered 250 Airbus aircraft in 2023 and 100 more in 2024.
The A321XLR conversions increase Air India’s Airbus firm-order backlog to 360, including 317 A320neos and 43 A350s.
Both deals were announced at Wings India 2026.
“The strategic conversion of a portion of our single-aisle Airbus aircraft orders to the A321XLR is in line with our effort of positioning Air India for the future,” said Air India CEO Campbell Wilson. “While we transform our current fleet at an accelerated pace with new and retrofitted aircraft, we are also carefully building our future fleet that, with scale and versatility, serves the rapidly evolving needs of travelers from and to India.”
The new Boeing order “supports steady deliveries and fleet upgrades planned over the next few years,” Wilson said.
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