Ace investor Shankar Sharma is totally vibing with Air India's business class cabin in its new plane. Sharing a video on X, Sharma said, “The new Air India planes with this Business - First cabin. Very, very nice. And the individual cubicles are very well designed, and the flat seat length is long enough for the 6 ft me.”
He also gave a thumbs up to the overall experience and wrote, “Food was excellent, wine selection very nice. Service, as always in AI, very warm.”
Comparing Air India’s pricing to that offered by several West Asia-based airlines for similar services, Sharma said, “About time, the 'kidney bechna padega (will have to sell a kidney to afford it)' fares of other West Asian airlines were crushed.”
Air India thanked the market guru for his appreciation. Responding to Sharma’s post, Air India wrote, “Dear Mr. Sharma, we are delighted to know that you enjoyed our new business class features and services. We look forward to welcoming you onboard again soon. Safe travels!”
Shankar Sharma also talked about the new planes in detail in the comments section of his post. Responding to an X user’s query on whether these were new planes or repurposed planes on wet lease, Sharma wrote, “As far as I know, these are new Airbus planes acquired by Air India directly, purpose designed, and not under a wet lease.”
Remember, in February 2023, Air India had placed two mega orders with aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing. The Tata group-owned airline had ordered 250 aircraft from Europe-based Airbus and 220 planes from the United States-based Boeing.
At the time, it was the biggest aircraft order in aviation history—a record which was soon broken by another Indian carrier, Indigo. Later, in December 2023, Air India changed the configuration of its order given to Airbus.
Air India has also been in the news recently for the proposed Vistara merger. In the last week of August 2024, the Indian government approved Singapore Airlines’ FDI proposal for the Air India-Vistara merger. This approval cleared the final hurdle for the merger, which will lead to the sunset of the Vistara brand on November 11, 2024.
Also Read: From Bihar to the World: Superfood makhana's success story