New-look boeing 747-400 unveiled

Mumbai, June 15 (UNI) Air India unveiled the refurbished Boeing 747-400 aircraft, first of the six aircraft to undergo a total make-over, here today.

The first renovated aircraft, christened 'Agra', will operate to US destinations - New York, Newark and Chicago.

said ''I am extremely pleased to have you present today as we unveil the first refurbished Boeing 747-400 aircraft, soon to be followed by five more revamped aircraft. This is the first time that a Cabin Refurbishment and In-flight Entertainment Upgradation programme of such magnitude has been undertaken by our highly qualified in-house engineers,'' Air India Chief V Thulasidas said.

The estimated cost of refurbishment of each aircraft is Rs 50 crore, totalling Rs 300 Crore for six aircraft. These six aircraft will join the 68 new Boeing aircraft ordered by Air India, thus equipping Airline with one of the youngest fleets in the world.

In the new-look aircraft, the cabin upgraded with all new economy seats, cushions and upholstery, the state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system from Thales has been installed on every seat back, including those in economy class, with audio and video on-demand, gaming and other interactive entertainment.

There are microwave ovens for the business and first class suites, red new carpets have been rolled out and the staircase leading to the upper deck has been replaced.

All passengers will have access to personal screens with 415 gigabytes of content, that's nearly 200 movies in languages like English, French, Japanese plus some regional ones.

In addition to all this, new overhead bins and aircraft side panels, a new overhead ceiling for the cargohold, freshcoat of paint for the side trims, cockpit trims and new toilets are part of the refurbished aircraft.

All this was supplied by Jamco, a Japanese cabin interior equipment provider. Health Tecna was selected for the interior scheme and components like ceiling panel, trims and overhead bins.

The new seats were provided by Texas-headquartered Weber Aircraft LP.

Air France coordinated with all the vendors for overall control of the project and facilitating the Supplemental Type Certificate required for Federal Aviation Administration approval.

UNI