One of the most surprising stands in the Routes World exhibition area was the one belonging to Air India. Airline stands are a rarity amongst all the glitzy airport booths at any Routes event, but with 470 aircraft on order, a new brand and a new in-flight product arriving next year, Air India felt 2023 was the perfect year to use Routes as a launch platform.
And as the promotion on the stand declared, the airline has a lofty ambition: “Welcome to the airline of New India. Our goal is to create India’s first truly global brand – a universally admired icon that carries the hopes, dreams and possibilities of the new, emerging India.”
Air India’s motivation was to “create excitement” about the carrier’s plans, which certainly worked, and with so many long-haul aircraft arriving in the coming years it wanted to work on its airport strategy.
PR protocol dictates that the team themselves cannot be quoted in person; however, unsurprisingly, the five-person team at Air India was in high demand. “We have one airport after another coming to talk to us,” said one of the team.
Perhaps they will be back at Routes 2024? And could we see other airlines following suit?
