Air India unveiled a “bold and confident” new livery and logo on Thursday as part of a multi-billion-dollar turnaround program that is being orchestrated by Indian conglomerate Tata & Son, which reacquired the airline in January 2022.
The rebrand will see the airline retire its iconic but worn ‘Flying Palace’ livery, but FutureBrand, the London-based marketing agency behind the new look, has reworked the instantly recognisable window shape design into the new livery.
FutureBrand borrowed sections of the Indian window design to create a new ‘brand design system’ that is meant to symbolise a ‘Window of Possibilities’. The new logo comes from the peak of the window design, which signifies limitless possibilities and progressiveness.
“The new Air India is bold, confident, and vibrant, but also warm and deeply rooted to its rich history and traditions that make Indian hospitality a global benchmark for standards in service,” commented CEO Campbell Wilson.
The livery will take to the skies for the first time in commercial service in December when Air India starts to operate its first Airbus A350 aircraft. The airline has not indicated how long it might take to roll out the livery across its entire fleet.
Wilson acknowledged that despite the headline-grabbing nature of the livery reveal, there was a lot more going on behind the scenes to transform Air India into what he hopes will be a world-class airline.
“We are in the midst of a total transformation to reimagine the role of India’s flagship airline,” Wilson commented as the brand was launched on the world stage.
Earlier this year, Air India signed a mammoth deal with Airbus and Boeing for up to 470 aircraft in a historic deal said to be worth as much as $70 billion. The first deliveries of those aircraft will begin in November, although the airline is also investing a further $400 million to retrofit existing aircraft with much-needed new interiors.
Air India was founded in 1932 by Tata & Son but the airline then became a government-owned airline before Tata took back control of the airline after 69 years in 2022.
Tata was already involved in the Indian airline industry with Vistara, but that brand will eventually be folded into Air India as part of the transformation program.
