Air India unveiled a refreshed brand identity today, showing off a modernized look for future aircraft and a new logo. Air India’s new livery, which has long been characterized by the iconic window frames, enlarges that concept and places the window on the tail of the aircraft.
The new Air India livery
The revised livery features a brand new billboard style “Air India” word mark on the forward fuselage in new custom Air India Sans font. The livery trades the classic Air India red and orange for an expanded color palette with a deeper red, aubergine, and gold accents on the tail and the belly of the aircraft. Large “Air India” belly titles complete the modernization of the livery.
Explaining the new identity, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said, “Our transformative new brand reflects an ambition to make Air India a world class airline serving guests from around the globe, and that represents a new India proudly on the global stage.”
When will we see Air India’s new livery on aircraft?
Air India says the first aircraft to wear the new livery will be the airline’s first A350, scheduled to enter service in December 2023. We can therefore expect to see the aircraft painted beforehand during its flight trials in Toulouse.
The current Air India fleet features 120 aircraft split between the Airbus A320 family and Boeing’s wide body 777s and 787s. Air India’s recent order from Airbus and Boeing includes 210 Airbus A320neo family aircraft and 40 A350s plus 190 737 MAX, 20 787s, and 10 777Xs from Boeing.
What do you think of Air India’s new brand identity? Do you agree with Campbell Wilson that the new livery befits a world class airline or are you sad to see the iconic windows left behind? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
62 Responses
Love the new livery. A great modern, invigorating refresh.
It honestly looks atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. There was nothing wrong with the current livery and it symbolised India more.
I mean, it’s ok, but no longer special… esp. as they aren’t keeping those iconic and unique window frame colors.
Absolutely fabulous-it does suggest AI is transforming and worth flying . I am so excited by it
I am incredibly sad to see the old livery go. The window frame and The Maharajah were iconic and beautifully Indian. Did the airline require a thorough overhaul and modernization? YES. Did the livery require one? NO.
If its not broken, don’t ‘fix’ it. Old motto works all the time. Air India’s new livery will not add anything more than 2-3% more passenger traffic. Quite frankly its much like a ghastly ‘in-your-face’ Emirates-ish copy. If Air India spent even half the money they will spend on this misplaced rebranding exercise in fixing their appalling inflight services and ticketing systems they will be able to capitalise on a groundswell of latent opportunities to chip away large chunks of traffic from the decaying service of the Gulf carriers.
Welcome to the 21st Century. That old livery was so very outdated.
Seeing the old livery for the past 6 decades was very reassuring and Indian, we could have continued the same with the Tatas in command.
The new logo and the font are a poor match to the grand maharajah and the centaur logo.
Hope the management does a rethink and reverts back to the old logo, font and glory.
Agree with Benjamin in earlier reviews. Not sure what the designer was thinking!
The Air India livery has been in need of a makeover and this has really done that!
Looks fantastic – I used to love flying Air India and hope they can return to the glory days with new ownership.
Well done Air India!
It’s a bit more complicated design, and something that is harder to depict in simple drawings and annotations. I guess that is okay. Honestly, any design that is presented will be liked by some and hated by some. If Air India is comfortable with it, then it should be the design. For sure, they need to erase the past (including the service and schedule), so the new design resets the memory and brings new beginnings.
It looks appalling. Cheap and nasty.
What happened to the idea of India’s correct map being placed on the Rudder as part of the livery and make it visible on the international stage?
I think it looks fresh and represents the attempts of the airline to rebirth itself. Good for them.
Very stylish and distinctive – and original. Not just a coloured tail and a white belly. Well done Air India!
It’s a very bad livery I’d say, the current one isn’t the best, but is certainly a lot lot better than this piece of crap. It looks like a cheap low-quality toy if look at it. Hate it.
I agree with Benjamin Perks: the new livery is atrocious, especially the tail. ‘AIR INDIA’ on the side is OK, but should be made smaller. And why not keep ‘air india’ in sanskrit on the sides as well.
The logo seems fine but i just hate the type they used for Air India. Look at the types of other elegant Airlines like Etihad, Qantas or even Delta for that matter. The type defines where you are positioning your brand. And the current type reduces the impact or seriousness of the logo and over all brand.
A slight modernisation of the current livery retaining the iconic windows would have been much better for the image of AI. I hate the tail design, it has lost its’ Indian identity.
Hate it. This airline needs to focus on its customer service. I flew from Bangalore to San Francisco via New Delhi a couple of years ago and experienced delays (over 24 hours), lousy food, and indifferent service. Seats were broken, monitors were not working, and cleanliness, especially the toilets, was almost absent. Not sure what the new livery will achieve if it does not up its game.
I like it. I like the three color scheme on the tail. Looks new and fresh. Good for them.
The current livery’s window frames are cartoonish and, to my mind, look embarrassingly ridiculous.
The new livery offers a vast improvement.
It looks good. Air India is trying to renew its self and needed to break from the past.
50/50
Sad to see the iconic windows gone, but the whole livery seriously needed a refresh.
Oddly enough, the whole thing reminds me Icelandair but with warmer colors, that why I’ve would appreciated more personality (like the iconics windows…) that’s make the mark of a brand !
New Livery is exciting and modern. The old one was stale and out dated for a modern and moving India! We’ll done.
Airline branding over the last 15 years or so has become an exercise akin to child play. This branding “refresh” is so juvenile in its execution it’s beyond comprehension. For me the “Palace in the Sky” approach was stately and represented the essence of India so very well. The homogenous muck that these well paid branding companies spew forth is getting ridiculous.
Like it.
Modern and progressive, very forward thinking.
Really makes a statement, a fantastic statement, big and bold, which will be needed to compete for top airline of the world.
Can they also think about flying to New Zealand, CHC WLG or AKL.
I am a frequent flyer with Air India, the new livery looks very nice gives Air India a new unique look.
Air India’s new brand identity looks good and the aircraft in they are adding to the fleet sounds impressive. Sadly the quality of aircrew is patchy.
Top Job AIR INDIA, looks absolutely fresh and modern. The old livery looked very tired.
A fresh change to the old and boring colours that dated the aircraft. Nice to see AI pick up the pace as it’s rival domestic/trans border competitors are a few steps ahead keeping up with the rest of the industry.
It may not symbolise India as the current livery but I sure think it looks great. I think it will get a lot of attention eventually. Give it a chance.
Forget any refresh at Air India until staff are “refreshed”.
Current staff poor, self entitled attitude; a thorough clean out required.
As a foreigner living in India, I think the rebranding is a must if they want to succeed internationally. Only a fresh branding and a complete overhaul of their fleet and service can make AI a serious competitor and attractive to fly with. I had the most horendous flights with AI in recent years and really hope they will improve.
Do I like the new design? Not really. It is not bad, but as mentioned before here, the word mark on the belly is a straight Emirates copy, the font used, sizing and colour code reminds too much of Air Asia and other low cost carriers. Else I think at least it looks modern and makes me hope for a better experience with AI in future
Wish the design was more Rural Indian. There is nothing Indian about this design. Why Ape the west? Wish you had some Indian designer do the creative work. Indian input is required not otherwise.
Please reconsider.
The iconic windows that stood out worldwide and formed a unique Air India logo should have been kept as many onlookers loved it . A tail with red and gold centaur would have been nice .. overall the current livery needs some modification . The Maharaja “ mascot” needs to come back . Overall ok but needs a little touch of the past :
Excellent livery refresh. Indicative of new revival and coming of age for the airline under new management. Hopefully the service will be equally invigorating as the new look.
Unfortunately Tata’s missed the mark on the new livery its generic, garish especially the underbelly (screams more budget carrier then a full service carrier)
I hate this new livery! It has cheapened the brand which in fact should have reverted back to the look of the grand Emperor Ashoka when those aircraft represented the grandeur and magnificence of India. In fact they should bring back the Centaur and our beloved Maharaja! When the ownership reverted back to the TATA GROUP we expected the airline would reflect that in its new livery! CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson has significantly CHEAPENED an otherwise legendary legacy.
Absolutely brilliant, the Maharajas are long gone, but I agree with others that a sparkling new exterior should be matched on the inside.
I simply cannot wait to hear my Indian colleagues’ opinion of this mess.
Horrible.
I had high hopes, and this looks awful.
The letters AIR INDIA on the belly, read left to right appear too textual. It would perhaps give a better, symmetrical and balanced look if these words are written on the belly in a vertical manner from nose to tail.
New era with new aircraft, I think it’s the right time for a rebrand. It looks good and the gold is a nice touch.
It’s disgusting.
What a wasted opportunity to create a bold new identity for a landmark moment. I hate the font and the logo.
They could have:
1) Integrated the Vistara logo and font in red as it is smart and elegant or
2) used the circular chakra in the centre of the Indian national flag to show the wheel of progress since independence. Or
3) My favourite idea would be to create a modern “namaste” symbol with a play on the inverted letter “T” to suggest “welcome” to both passengers and the wider public. After all our namaste, touching both hands gesture is uniquely Indian and recognised all over the world.
As an Air Indian, for me, this new livery gets a big thumbs down 👎 It does not represent India, as did the centaur logo. Even the word ” Air India ” across the front fuselage, does not sit pretty with me. I much preferred the way Air India is written now, as has been used since it was emblazoned on the 707’s. Also to see the palace theme windows disappear, is hugely disappointing. I think the majority of people would have preferred the old logo make a return, especially as the airline is under the Tata wing. And maybe they were expecting that. I know I was!! But will the board of AI, listen to the common folk or even their own staff, who may not take to this rebounding. Its not too late! It has been done before, when Air India, introduced the sun logo on the red stripe, with the white body. That did not go down well and in the end, Air India went back to the original logo. I really do hope so in this case. But alas, I fear it will not.
Sure are a lot of (remarkably) strong feelings here. Like it or not, Air India has to compete in identity with other global carriers now which means conforming to a certain industry style. The old was really tired (it would have helped if they washed the planes now and then). A new one has to look contemporary. This one does. A livery isn’t something to be studied, it’s to catch the eye for a millisecond. Yeah, the windows were cool, but have long since come to identify a lousy airline.
But what this airline needs is a complete break with their past. That means they should have changed the name. “Air India” is not a premium product and they should sever ties with it.
Air India could be so much more than it is. They have an enormous middle class resident population and a huge, well-to-do diaspora. That’s their natural market and they should get them back them first. I’m sure very few of those people care about paint.
They should have just re-done the tail and kept the iconic “fortress” window frames and Maharajah. This new livery is bland.
Getting rid off that red belly part should definitely bring some significant visual benefits.
I’m glad to see the ghastly red window frames go. I like the new!
I think it’s a complete failure. The branding design at the tailfin needs is not only atrocious, it is not understandable at all. Modernizing doesn’t mean making it cheap, commonplace and overall “simplistically overcomplicated”
New India needs New Livery. Since it is now a private company, Tata Group can do whatever they want with it. It looks modern and stylish!
Maybe they should change the name to something like Tata as TATA is a very well-recognized brand for quality and Price. Maybe Tata Airlines or have Bharat In Hindi followed by Air India
I wish Tata’s rethink of not changing to the new design which is awful. I remember the 1971 first 747 which was a symbol of Indian classic design, inside and outside. The current livery should incorporate minor modern changes giving a fresh look. The new design look’s like more of a toy plane. Have Indian’s lost their creative touch ? 🙁
It was a change for change’s sake. There was no need to change the old design. New design is meaningless.
I love it and was hoping Hindi lettering was inscribed on the plane somewhere.
Beautiful, modern. Not before time
The old livery I always felt was long overdue a makeover – the 1970s typeface, for example, doesn’t really exude a forward-looking nation.
I like the new tail and the combination of dark red, aubergine and gold is a nice pallate to use throughought the airline’s brand.
The airline logo is big, bold, much clearer and……well, OK; just OK.
It’s the gold carriage line and the red on the belly that I don’t get. They seem incongrous. They could have extended the purple Mughal arch from the tail along the belly, for example.
Not a big fan of the new livery. A bit brash and quite out of sync with basic principles. Minimalism is a design aesthetic as well as an operational advantage. The scaling of the different design elements is poor. I’m a bit disappointed that the tri-color wasn’t incorporated to some extent. None of these design elements are memorable. No icon, no logo. I think they forgot who the target audience is.
I’m 69 and an airline geek since 6 or 7 years old growing up 5 miles from JFK. This is one of the best new livery’s I’ve seen in a very very long time. It’s brilliant for its consistency to the best of Air India’s past (window nod on the tail) to the bold Air India with brilliant colors that reflect the best of India. I think it’s truly great. (PS I tend to be very critical of new livery, eg Lufthansa: WHY?; Air France, can’t we do better then bigger letters?; ITA/Alitalia, Huh?