After Being On Ground For 6 Years, Air India Restores Legacy Boeing 777 Plane
As Air India restored Boeing 777 Plane, more than 3,000 new key components were installed, and over 4,000 maintenance tasks were completed
By PTI
Published : March 17, 2026 at 8:15 PM IST
New Delhi: After being grounded for over six years, Air India's legacy Boeing 777-300ER aircraft has started flying again. More than 3,000 new key components were installed, and over 4,000 maintenance tasks were completed as the Tata Group-owned airline restored the wide-body aircraft, with all the work done at AIESL's facility in Nagpur.
The aircraft VT-ALL was grounded in February 2020 due to multiple unserviceable systems and ageing components, Air India said in a statement on Tuesday. The decision to restore the plane was taken in April 2025. Loss-making Air India was acquired by the Tata Group from the government in January 2022.
"In April 2025, Air India initiated efforts to bring it back to full operational life to support long-haul expansion. The aircraft entered the AIESL Nagpur MRO facility in May 2025, beginning an intensive, nose-to-tail restoration programme," the statement said. MRO refers to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul.
"Among the inherited legacy fleet of 113 aircraft were 30 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft that had remained long grounded and untouched for years...," Air India said and added that VT-ALL was the last of the 30 grounded aircraft back in service.
Currently, Air India has a fleet of nearly 190 narrow-body and wide-body planes.
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