Air India opens new lounge at Delhi airport; CEO says exciting time
.webp)
It is an exciting time for Air India and the changes will manifest in the air as well as on the ground this year, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said as the Tata Group-owned carrier opened its new lounge at the Delhi airport.
The airline will also be opening lounges in San Francisco, New York and other cities.
Spread across 16,000 square feet, the Maharaja Lounge at the Delhi airport can accommodate around 300 guests in 'Business' and 'First Class' sections.
In a brief interaction with PTI after the opening of the lounge on Thursday evening, Wilson said it is an "exciting time" for Air India and 2026 is the year when the changes will "really manifest in the air" and on the ground as he mentioned about retrofit of wide-body planes.
"By the end of this year we'll have about half, a little bit more than half of our wide-body aircraft upgraded to a new standard. It will take another 18-24 months beyond that to complete the rest of the fleet (upgrade)... but increasingly we will have a very much more consistent world-class experience on Air India.
"It is an exciting time and I think the new Air India is starting to become visible," he said.
In a statement on Friday, Wilson said the new lounge at the Delhi airport is a significant milestone in the airline's transformation journey and that its strategic expansion plans include substantial investments to build more such platforms across countries that it flies to.
Air India Group -- Air India and Air India Express -- has over 300 planes.
Other Latest News
.webp)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday hailed the India-EU Free Trade Agreement as a "game changer" while addressing the inaugural India-EU Forum, organised by the Ananta Centre in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs.
.webp)
More than a decade after India first got a taste of cab on the app, a disruptor has entered the market trying to change the ride-hailing landscape.
The Ministry of Cooperation formally launched Bharat Taxi, a government-backed service, in the national capital region (NCR) and some parts of Gujarat on Thursday even as the market was sensing the arrival of new competition for some weeks now.
.webp)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said India’s recent trade agreements are expected to support economic growth and exports, even as global uncertainty and geopolitical tensions rise.
Announcing the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, Malhotra said that the committee has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent and continue with a ‘neutral’ policy stance.
.webp)
Russia may remain India’s largest crude oil supplier, at least for the next few months, as Indian refiners continue to receive substantial volumes in the absence of clarity on the proposed US-India bilateral trade, according to interviews with legal experts, market participants and ship tracking data. Moreover, discounts on higher quality Russian oil are twice as much as readily available dirty Venezuelan oil.
.webp)
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list for hearing in March a PIL seeking direction to seize the symbol or deregister a political party that promises or distributes "irrational freebies" before polls.
Lawyer-petitioner Ashwini Updhyaya told a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that the notices on his PIL were issued to the Centre and the Election Commission in 2022 itself, and urged it to list the matter soon.
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
