Air India’s new air craft showcases Gujarat’s Patola on tail

Air India’s new air craft showcases Gujarat’s Patola on tail
By our correspondent
Mumbai, DeshGujarat, 6 October, 2009



The new Boeing 737- 800 aircraft owned by Air India Express, VT-AYC that arrived in Delhi on October 3, 2009 showcases an image of a traditional Patola saree from Gujarat on its tail. Patola is finely woven in the double Ikat weave, in rich silk and decorative patterns.

The other side has the image of a typical Naga hand woven woolen shawl with red and black colored stripes and hand painted motifs on the centre band, woven by the women of Ao Naga tribe from Nagaland. The tail designs are an innovative and novel feature of the Air India Express aircraft. These aircraft showcase the picturesque landscapes, monuments, birds, animals, handicraft and dances of India on both sides of the tail.

With the induction of this aircraft, Air India Express now has a fleet of 24 aircraft, including seven leased aircraft.

Air India Express, India’s first international budget carrier, commenced operations on April 29, 2005, and today operates 214 weekly flights between 17 Indian cities viz. Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar, Mangalore, Chennai, Tiruchirapally, Nagpur, Kolkota, Jaipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Srinagar and 14 International cities on the network, which are Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Dhaka and Colombo.