Air India on Thursday unveiled a new brand identity and new aircraft livery as the airline plans to transform its fleet with a historic purchase of 470 new aircraft in a multi-billion-dollar deal. The Tata-group-owned airline said the new logo, 'The Vista', "captures the essence of bold new India, which marks a milestone in its Vihaan.AI transformation."
Air India's new logo 'The Vista' is inspired by the peak of the gold window frame, which the airline said, "signifies limitless possibilities, progressiveness, and the airline's bold new outlook." Travellers will see the new logo by the end of December this year when Air India's first Airbus A350 enters the aircraft fleet
With the new logo, Tata Group's airline has now ditched its red arched window accents for a sleeker livery and design that features a palette of deep red, aubergine, and gold highlights, as well as a chakra-inspired pattern. It has a red and gold underbelly emblazoned with its name in bold. It will replace the old logo of a red swan and orange spokes inside the swan
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This is not the first time the Tata Group airline logo has been changed. The air carrier that was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932 has changed its logo several times over the last 91 years. Time travel with this Visual Story to see how the airline's logo has evolved in a near century
For about 14 years until Tata Airlines was nationalised in 1946, the JRD Tata-founded airline had its own simple logo - a simple black text that read 'Tata Air Lines. It was later changed to Air India when the government took control of the carrier and rebranded it
The first logo of Air India was a centaur, a stylised version of Sagittarius shooting an arrow in a circle representing the wheel of Konark. The logo was chosen by founder JRD Tata, and was introduced in 1948 and represented the airline until 2007. It was accompanied by a secondary logo that read 'Air India International' till 1960
The 1960 Air India logo traded the italicised 'International' for a black inscription. Although smaller, the new text was 'एअर इंडिया', the airline's name written in Hindi. From 1971 to 1972, the airline briefly used a logo that placed its Hindi name above its English name. Unlike the previous logo, where English text was bigger than Hindi, this logo had both titles similar in size, and it brought back the centaur
In 1972, Air India logo got another update. This time the centaur, which symbolises the wheel of Konark, was placed in the middle, flanked by एअर इंडिया on the left and Air India on the right. The entire logo was red. All subsequent Air India logos carried red letters placed over a white background
In I990, Air India went native and the logo was changed again. A tilted red stripe bearing a bronze sun was added to the Air India logo. The design was relatively simpler with एअर इंडिया Air India written to the left of the slanted red stripe. Two years later, the logo with the centaur in the middle, flanked by English and Hindi names, made a comeback and it lasted for 15 years. This was the last logo with the centaur
In 2007, Air India and Indian Airlines unveiled their new livery consisting of a Flying Swan with the wheel of Konark placed inside it. The flying swan was morphed from the centaur logo and the chakra was derived from Indian Airlines's erstwhile logo. The new design resembled a tailfin
Air India refreshed its livery, making the Rajasthani arches along the windows slightly smaller, extending a stylised line from the tail of the aircraft to the nose, and painting the underbelly red. The logo featured on the tail and the engine covers with red and orange lines running parallel to each other from the front door to the rear door. Seven years later, while the airline retained its livery, but the typeface was updated to indicate that it was now a 'Star Alliance Member'
After the airline's acquisition by the Tata Group reports began emerging that the Group was looking to give the airline a complete makeover. Later in December 2022, the airline roped in London-based Futurebrands to draw a rebranding strategy. The airline has revealed its brand new logo 'The Vista', livery, and hard product for its aircraft