Last three Indian Airlines inducted Airbus A300s phased out of service

Air India has said that the last three wide-bodied Airbus A300 aircraft, the workhorse of the Indian Airlines fleet, were phased out on 31 March 2008. The aircraft were inducted into the fleet of domestic carrier Indian Airlines way back in 1976.

The induction of the A300 heralded a new era, with the wide bodied, twin-aisled aircraft being used on domestic sectors for the first time. With the aircraft, the Executive Class made its appearance in domestic travel for the first time. With a configuration of 32 Executive Class, and 215 Economy Class seats, the A300 catered to the growing traffic on metro sectors and was deployed on trunk routes, linking one metro city with another.

With Indian Airlines allowed to tap a restricted number of destinations abroad, the A300 also allowed the Indian domestic carrier to serve many international sectors such as Delhi-Kathmandu; Delhi-Kabul; Mumbai-Kozhikode-Sharjah; Chennai-Singapore and others.