Air India is currently undergoing major changes, as the airline has been privatized, and is trying to reinvent itself (though it’s all happening at a snail’s pace). Along those lines, the airline has just launched a new ad campaign, which I think is worth highlighting.
In this post:
“There is an Air About India” ad campaign
Air India’s new ad campaign is called “There is an Air About India,” and it’s described as a tribute to the new India, which is “bold, joyous, confident, and resoundingly vibrant.” The campaign is supposed to “capture the essence of a nation on the rise that Air India is proud to carry around the world.”
While this campaign will also include print ads, the centerpiece of this is a rap-style soundtrack composed by music director Sneha Khanwalkar, with vocals by emerging rap artist Aarya Jadhao. The film “blends rhythmic storytelling, sharp transitions, and stunning visuals, capturing the soul of India, from bustling metros to remote heartlands.”
The intent is that “each beat and verse weaves together the diverse cultural fabric of India — its colours, cuisines, communities, and ambitions.” You can see the ad for yourself below.
Well done, Air India, this is a great campaign!
I think Air India’s new ad campaign is really well done — it’s captivating, colorful, and creative. Now, admittedly it doesn’t really highlight what makes Air India compelling, but instead the message basically seems to be “India is cool, and we’re the global airline of India.”
I suppose that approach makes sense, because so far Air India doesn’t actually have much to show off in terms of a widespread product improvement. It also differentiates Air India from India’s largest airline, IndiGo, which has a more regional network (though is also now getting into long haul flying).
You’ve especially gotta give Air India credit for this campaign when you consider where the airline came from. Just look at the below Air India ad from roughly a decade ago, which must rank in the top 10 most cringe airline ads ever.
Bottom line
Air India has launched its newest ad campaign, also expected to be one of the carrier’s biggest in history. The campaign is called “There is an Air About India,” and I’d say that it’s really well done, even by international standards (in contrast to many of Air India’s past campaigns).
What do you make of Air India’s new ad campaign?
The AIR is the worst thing about India. They fail to show the reality that the country is one big landfill site, urinal and streets full of animal, human feces and spit.
Shame they also fail to show/advertise the airline service, hard and soft product - Just the new livery which they couldn’t even get right on their A350s..
The AIR is the worst thing about India. They fail to show the reality that the country is one big landfill site, urinal and streets full of animal, human feces and spit.
Shame they also fail to show/advertise the airline service, hard and soft product. Just the new livery which they couldn’t even get right on their A350s
The AIR is the worst thing about India. They fail to show the reality that the country is one big landfill site, urinal and streets full of animal, human faces and spit.
Shame they also fail to show/advertise the airline service, hard and soft product. Just the new livery which they couldn’t even get right on their A350s
An air about India. Yes. Those people absolutely stink of body order. Ever wonder why you see a wide body airplane on the ramp there with ALL the doors open? It is to get rid of the horrific body stench of India, Pakistani pax, etc, etc.
bottom third world orders & it shows.
Flying on Air India….. NEVER EVER EVER.
And the folks from Africa are just as bad. Let them stay in their own countries & leave ours alone.
One can be absolutely certain that you will “Stink” equally as revolting to an Indian Tiger or African Lion …. beware if you ever venture out of state John Mc …. :-=)
Ben does this not qualify as expressing outright vile racism and bound for a ban or something alike?
We should face facts. Both Air India and Indian tourism face entrenched image challenges tied to perceptions of outdated airline standards, inconsistent infrastructure, and concerns around safety and hygiene. These cannot be overcome through branding alone. Long-term solutions require sustained investment in the airline's current service modernization, as well as national regulatory reform, and improvements in urban and rural infrastructure, alongside genuine efforts to enhance the visitor experience. Ultimately, building trust and appeal will depend...
We should face facts. Both Air India and Indian tourism face entrenched image challenges tied to perceptions of outdated airline standards, inconsistent infrastructure, and concerns around safety and hygiene. These cannot be overcome through branding alone. Long-term solutions require sustained investment in the airline's current service modernization, as well as national regulatory reform, and improvements in urban and rural infrastructure, alongside genuine efforts to enhance the visitor experience. Ultimately, building trust and appeal will depend not just on how India is marketed, but on how it is experienced.
CJ, one believes that you may be advocating the removal of many tourist misconceptions about India and the people. Alternatively, could it be simply ignorance and prejudice which is at the forefront of some travellers minds?
I have taken the Airbus 350 from New York to Delhi twice and it was great. I was in Premium Economy which I highly recommend. Before the war with Pakistan it was the shortest way to get to Delhi.
Colour me not impressed.
Air India where there is a chance you will be urinated on and where the toilets may not work as clothes and blankets have been flushed down them.
Yes... and that explains the 'AIR' on Air India !
American Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Passenger Allegedly Exposes Himself, Urinates in Aisle .. https://people.com/american-airlines-flight-makes-emergency-landing-after-passenger-allegedly-exposes-himself-urinates-in-aisle-8673973
United passenger gets $10K fine for urinating in seat mid-flight after mixing Xanax and alcohol
https://nypost.com/2025/01/14/world-news/united-passenger-gets-10k-fine-for-urinating-in-seat-mid-flight/
lol just go visit airindia subreddit and you’ll quickly see that the airline is far from turned around. Not talking about the high profile ones like pee gate and snake gate. But just nothing works on the airline and customer service is non existent.
Amazing ad befitting an airline that has ambitions to reclaim its reputation and the world's top airlin again. For those that have short memories, I'd like to remind them that Air India was indeed the world's top airline when the Tatas owned it. The Tatas are back in the cockpit and placed an largest order for aircrafts in the history of civil aviation (600+ aircrafts) split between Boeing and Airbus. I have no doubt that...
Amazing ad befitting an airline that has ambitions to reclaim its reputation and the world's top airlin again. For those that have short memories, I'd like to remind them that Air India was indeed the world's top airline when the Tatas owned it. The Tatas are back in the cockpit and placed an largest order for aircrafts in the history of civil aviation (600+ aircrafts) split between Boeing and Airbus. I have no doubt that Air India under Tatas leadership (a $200B+ conglomerate which owns Jaguar/ Land Rover and the Taj group whose hotels routinely too the rankings for the world's best hotels) will dominate the rankings of the world best run and lived airlines in the world again
So which branch of the Tata Group do you work for?
The one which brought Jaguar Landover few years back :)
India is definitely in the "AIR" these days ! India just surpassed Japan to take the 4th spot in terms of GDP and will surpass Germany by next year if they keep growing at 7+ percentage points ( Q4 GDP grew at 7.4%) ! India, according to IATA will surpass the U.S to claim the crown of the largest aviation market by 2028 ! So take that all of you India haters. Skadden who ? I am sorry but perhaps Skadden can't afford the rents in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore !
@“Seth” Are you bragging on India? Fix your overcrowding, ubiquitous poverty, feces/urine everywhere and your rape culture and then you can brag. I don’t hate Indian or Indians by any stretch, but the unflattering stereotypes are there for a reason.
Yeah, it looks pretty sleek, but it does feel like something a national tourist board could have come up with to promote India as a destination per se. Nothing out of it really makes you eager to fly Air India specifically.
This is actually not a new campaign at all. It's very retro!
My home is decorated with retro airline posters, and one of them features the Maharaja, an AI 707, and says "There is an Air About India."
One day I would love to visit India, but I would never fly Air India. After watching all the reviews on Youtube, their product looks dirty and beyond repair. Even first class looks awful. There is a reason why you can always find availability with points on Air India.
Agree completely. My favorite was when The Flip Flop Traveler got his identity stolen as a result of an aeroplan Air India redemption. Heading there for the first time this winter and actively avoiding Air India. Flying BA business there through LHR for 70k AA points and Finnair business back to LHR through HEL for 42.5k AA points and then VS business from LHR to JFK for 29k points (was 24k with 25% chase transfer...
Agree completely. My favorite was when The Flip Flop Traveler got his identity stolen as a result of an aeroplan Air India redemption. Heading there for the first time this winter and actively avoiding Air India. Flying BA business there through LHR for 70k AA points and Finnair business back to LHR through HEL for 42.5k AA points and then VS business from LHR to JFK for 29k points (was 24k with 25% chase transfer bonus) - also stopping over in London for a day or so as well to visit friends etc. Could have taken plenty of routings with Air India First for 110k aeroplan points or business 90k each way, but honestly, why risk flying on Air India? This ad does nothing to change that.
Peter, you may not have heard that Air India is no less anger the Air India your dad flew in. Air India was acquired by the Tata Group 2 years ago, and you'll be forgiven for your ignorance of the fact that the Tata Group owns JLR, The Taj group whose hotels regularly rank among the best hotels in the world, not to mention TCS that generates 100B + in revenue in software sales every...
Peter, you may not have heard that Air India is no less anger the Air India your dad flew in. Air India was acquired by the Tata Group 2 years ago, and you'll be forgiven for your ignorance of the fact that the Tata Group owns JLR, The Taj group whose hotels regularly rank among the best hotels in the world, not to mention TCS that generates 100B + in revenue in software sales every year ! In the Tara's can able hands, Air India, I have no doubt will be one of the best airlines in the world in the next 2-3 years ! Btw, unless you were sleeping under a rock, Air India placed the largest order in the history of civil aviation for over 600 aircrafts (split between Boeing and Airbus). Let's give them another two or three years and I can bet you that Air India will find a place in the top 10 airlines in the world by 2028.
Sounds like they have plenty of money to buy their way to a 5* skytrax rating! But very happy to take that bet.
No question Air India has nowhere to go but ‘up’ - Tata ownership together with SQ’s 25% stake may well pay dividends. Meanwhile, IndiGo now controls 65% of the Indian market! Pretty telling when 2/3rds of the country would prefer to take a different carrier than the flag carrier.
IndiGo is struggling...
Sounds like they have plenty of money to buy their way to a 5* skytrax rating! But very happy to take that bet.
No question Air India has nowhere to go but ‘up’ - Tata ownership together with SQ’s 25% stake may well pay dividends. Meanwhile, IndiGo now controls 65% of the Indian market! Pretty telling when 2/3rds of the country would prefer to take a different carrier than the flag carrier.
IndiGo is struggling to get its long-haul ambitions off the ground though - will have to do better than a wet lease with Norse and Indian government is making them give up wet lease with Turkish… but bottom line is Air India has effectively conceded the domestic market and fingers crossed it can figure out how to put a decent long-haul product together. Hopefully it will be better by 2028, but I suspect it will take a lot longer than 2-3 years to implement this turnaround.
In the meantime, I’ll go for tried and true airlines over the Air About Air India marketing campaign.
2/3 of market taking a different carrier then Air India is not at all relevant, Indigo is a LCC and India is a heavily price sensitive market. When you can find airfares for half of 2/3 of the price of AI, off course you end up with people on Indigo. This logic applies to all the LCCs dominating various markets with legacy flag carriers too.
Get your facts right.
You can change the planes overnight but can’t change the culture instantly just because TATA’s have taken over. 2 to 3 years as you claim is not long enough time. Unless you get rid of everyone from old Air India.
I'm the opposite, I have been to India but it's really not for me, it's overwhelming and, yes, a lot of it is extremely dirty. There's no reason to turn this into an argument about race, but there are definitely systemic issues both with the culture in the country (see widespread discrimination on the basis of caste) and the way it's run (Sri Lanka is far more relaxed and manageable for the average foreigner).
Having...
I'm the opposite, I have been to India but it's really not for me, it's overwhelming and, yes, a lot of it is extremely dirty. There's no reason to turn this into an argument about race, but there are definitely systemic issues both with the culture in the country (see widespread discrimination on the basis of caste) and the way it's run (Sri Lanka is far more relaxed and manageable for the average foreigner).
Having said that, I have no problem flying AI, in fact I did a few months ago and had a pretty good experience.
Holy sh!t, there were even a few dark-skinned Indians in this! Whoa.
Granted, if you blinked, you missed them. But I guess that's progress, considering this airline's typical and past ads.
The air about India is very hard to breathe in. Literally and metaphorically. Pollution, authoritarianism, and religious extremism. Yum!
You are right about air pollution. Rest of your post is BS. Religious extremism and authoritarianism? You are clueless. Have you ever heard of Indians waging a jihad? Have you not noticed the Orange Authoritarian in the Whitehouse?
So what did Narendra Modi do in 2002 about the Gujarat Riots/Pogrom? He was only the governor of Gujarat at the time.
So what did the Orange maroon in the Whitehouse do about the Jan 6th "visitors" to the capitol hill?
It's funny how pretty much everyone here that salivate about the ME3 airlines have no issues with all the terrorism that gets exported from there and the religious bigotry there.
I’ve never been to India nor do I have any desire to visit any place where 60% of the population, now 1.5 Billion, refuse to use a toilet. They claim to be the smartest people but it’s basic common sense to practice good hygiene especially involving human feces.
Stay where you are. It is unlikely that you are welcome in many places with that attitude.
People with your shitty attitude aren't welcome in India. So stay put whichever part of the world you are from !
I think you'd find that your countrymen aren't welcomed in most countries either.
This is a delightful campaign highlighting one of the world's most vibrant and interesting countries. I'm so excited for Air India's renaissance and can't wait to visit the country again.
It makes me want to return to India. I'm not sure it makes me want to fly Air India to get there, though.
As my Indian co-workers tell me, "Indians love India, as long as they don't have to live there." The nice thing about India is that, female visitors just need to pay for the airfare, the gropes and rapes are thrown in for free. Now, that's hospitality for you!
The racism you are spewing is top notch, what award do you want?
Your Indian co workers does not represent the 1.4 billion Indians who choose to live in India
can vouch for what he is saying. my wife was raped by an indian while on vacation. nothing was done. blamed her.
then she was groped on a flight on the way home
truly disgusting people.
@Big Al, I am so sorry to hear that about your wife. I’d like to visit India someday but my wife refuses to go and I don’t object. I’ve seen so many social media posts where Western women get gang raped or molested by a pack of Indian men. The local police do nothing about it. Again, Im so sorry to hear about your wife.
Why hide behind your "Indian co-workers"? Come out of the closet, you bigot.
Actually if one goes through the data, the % of rapes in US, UK and some european countries are far more per capita compared to asian countries including India, for all the safety and freedom one preaches about.. however as they say, ignorance is bliss !
@Tango, It’s easy for a country like India to claim they don’t have a rampant rape culture when it’s not reported and included in the data. One simply needs to have 2 eyes and ears to see the literal thousands of social media posts by foreigners who’ve been to India, claim to be gang raped, and then nothing is done about it. I have nothing against Indians, but the rape culture needs to be eliminated. And the first way to fix it, is to admit it and then address it.
Tons of AI slop in the ad tho no cap
There's an air alright - hits you the second you step on the jetway in Delhi.
Is the air smog?
I'd never seen that 2015 ad and it was hilarious! Hilariously bad. Wow, cringy as hell.
"Are you Indian?" lol
@Arps: when you get up early to study for your SATs, you should study. Not post nonsense on a travel blog for adults.
I think it's time for you to do an Air India trip report! ;)
Not yet. Air India is busy busy changing things, but they're not yet "changed". I want to read about the new, when it exists.
Ben’s never visited India since 2018, when he took the World’s Longest Flight (SQ22) via Ahmedabad, as he called it. It’s been quite a while, and I’m sure he might be impressed by AI’s A350s and ex-Vistara A321neos and 787s, plus the Terminal 2s at BLR and BOM. That said, he might want to wait until Q3 2025, when the new Navi Mumbai and Noida airports are expected to open.
Cool ad but seems to be a “Visit India” type ad (making me want to visit) versus giving me a reason to fly a specific airline.
Umm
Air pollution in India is off the charts.
Any country in which Skadden doesn’t have an office is not worth visiting even as a tourist because it means they don’t have money and therefore they can’t provide you with rich experiences.
Grow up child!
Arps, you have no idea how ignorant you are spouting such nonsense. India has more to offer those interested in history, culture and learning than you could ever possibly imagine.
You do know there are many regions in India where air pollution is less and in fact clean? Goa, Andaman Islands, the inlands of Kerela, the colonial towns of Pondicherry, the tea gardens of East India and so on
India is not just New Delhi in Winter and Dharabi in Mumbai. Way to go on your stereotypes Arps
Stereotype? Most of the nice bits that aren’t polluted and wallowing in BJP authoritarianism and enthrall to the RSS, require an NOC or inner line permits or are violently policed by the military. Absoultely you can travel from Bombay to the less-polluted western Ghats, but that won’t let you escape the noxious anti-muslim/bihari/dalit/foreigner atmosphere of ill-informed hate that mainland India has become. :)
You don’t require permits to go to Goa, Kerela and Pondicherry, nor are they police states…
And I am saying this as someone who just visited Goa and Kerela on my last visit to India back in February
We have an Orange Authoritarian in the Whitehouse too. Let's not forget that.
So true. Arps doesn´t have offices in Thailand, Spain or Italy and no one ever wants to visit those countries.
Lol I expect Ben to get a nice cease and desist email from Skadden to delete this comment. While there is no proof that a Skadden employee is posting this, spewing this nonsense isn’t good for their brand. India will soon be the third largest economy globally and it would be very odd for any large global firm not to have a on ground presence in India if they aren’t there already. They will be there eventually.
https://www.skadden.com/capabilities/regions/asia-pacific
According to Skadden :
Skadden has been recognized several times as a leading law firm in India as overseas counsel for corporate/M&A in Chambers Global.
Arps, what kind of a Skadden employee are you that you don’t even recognize India is a valuable market for your firm?
Is it that you don’t work for them and it is all in your imagination?
From Skadden :
Skadden has been recognized several times as a leading law firm in India as overseas counsel for corporate/M&A in Chambers Global.
https://www.skadden.com/capabilities/regions/asia-pacific
Arps, what kind of a Skadden employee are you that you don’t even recognize that India is one of your firm’s valuable markets?
Is it that you don’t work for Skadden and is just a made up imagination in your mind?
(Rewrote again due to cloudfare clashing page)
Even a broken clock (bigot) is right a couple of times a day. Air pollution is a problem in India. Rest of the stuff is bigoted nonsense.
There are more billionaires living in Mumbai than in Tokyo, Singapore, or Paris. As for "rich experiences", India has them in spades. If your idea of travel is just laying about on the beach between visits to the same brand-name stores you visit at home, then don't waste the trip.