The aircraft livery used while the company was called Indian Airlines was one of the longest in continuous use in the airline industry. Its aircraft were mainly white, with the belly painted in light metallic grey. Above the windows, "Indian Airlines" was written in English on one side and Hindi on other. The tail was bright orange, with its logo in white. In most of the aircraft, the logo was also painted on the engines over its bare metal colour. Also, when the company was under the title of Indian Airlines, to celebrate its 50th year of service the airline put the slogan "50 years of flying" in gold on many of their aircraft.
After the name change to Indian, the company's aircraft were sporting a new look inspired by the Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa. The tail of their aircraft had a partial blue wheel since practically 3/4 of the remainder is cut off. The wheel is over an orange background with the carrier's name "Indian" written in English on one side of the fuselage, and in Hindi on the other.
On 15 May 2007, the Government of India released the new merger livery, which was sent to Boeing in Seattle to repaint all the new fleet coming into the new Air India. Most of the old fleets of Air India and Indian Airlines have also been painted in the new livery.
The Executive class had a similar IFE. The seat configuration is 2X2 with a generous recline. Meals served are more lavish. At some airports, Executive Class passengers get exclusive check-in benefits and porters to assist them.
Air India Limited
Air India Limited
Air India Limited is a company that was formed as National Aviation Company of India Limited by the government of India to oversee the merger of Air India and Indian. The company was renamed as Air India Limited on October 26, 2010. It was incorporated under theCompanies Act 1956 on 30 March 2007 and was owned by the Government of India based at the Air India Building in Nariman Point,Mumbai. The Company was created to facilitate the merger of the two main state-owned airlines in India: Air India, with its subsidiary Air India Express and Indian, together with its subsidiary Alliance Air (now called Air India Regional).
The previous structure was:
- National Aviation Company of India Limited
- Air India
- Air India Express
- Air India Cargo
- Air India Charters Limited
- Air India Air Transport Services
- Indian
- Air India Regional (formerly Alliance Air)
- Air India
Upon completion of the merger on 26 February 2011 there is now one primary airline, Air India, with two subsidiary carriers providing regional and low-cost, point-to-point services and a third subsidiary for cargo operations:
- Air India
- Air India Express
- Air India Regional
- Air India Cargo
AIL carriers connect 93 destinations (60 domestic and 33 international) in 24 countries as of February 2011.
