I am going to book a flight from Bangalore to Delhi, and I would like to fly with Air India on their dream liner aircraft. I would like to find out how I can book a particular aircraft, are there options when making an online booking? Also is there food served on the Banglore to Delhi route?
Hello, @Lahar, welcome to the forum! (Images from Anna Zvereva, Kprateek, Rishabh Mathur and Adrian Pingstone) Overview The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a premier aircraft built by the Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Initially, it was introduced in Japan in 2011 through the All Nippon Airways. It was in 2012 when Air India acquired its very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. As of now, Air India owns 9 of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and leases 12 of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, thereby having a total of 21 of this type of aircraft. Mostly, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner of Air India operates through long-haul international flights. For a short while, before the introduction of the aircraft into international flights, it did operate in several domestic flights, from Bangalore to Delhi, Delhi to Amritsar, Mumbai to Chennai and many more. Initially, these flights were more for the training of the crews and pilots before running them to a long-haul flight proper. Now, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is mostly utilised for long-haul international flights though sometimes, they are also utilised for add-on short domestic flights after the international flights. While you can book a particular aircraft when reserving your ticket online with Air India, there is no guarantee of a Dreamliner aircraft especially for short-haul domestic flights. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts are mostly used for international sectors like Delhi to Dubai, Delhi to Frankfurt, Delhi to London or Delhi to Paris. With the introduction of more aircrafts from the Boeing 787 Dreamliner line, most domestic flights were then shifted to Airbus aircrafts instead. How to Book a Particular Aircraft in Air India (Bangalore to Delhi) When booking a ticket for an Air India flight, you can choose between different types of aircraft which would be shown to you in your booking process. The aircrafts are fixed though, so you can only choose within a prefixed number of aircrafts. You can follow the steps below for a hassle-free booking of a particular aircraft for Air India. 1. Go to the official website of Air India by clicking the link. On the homepage, you would find the booking form which you can fill up directly. On the topmost portion of the form, choose whether you'd prefer a one-way ticket or round-trip ticket. Input other details like the airport you're departing from and the airport you'd be arriving in, the departure and return dates, the number of adult, child or infant passengers and finally, the class of ticket you'd be purchasing. After inputting all these details, click on the Book Now button. Alternatively, you can click on the Manage Your Trip tab and then on the Book a Flight button, from the homepage as well. You would be taken to a new page, where you'd input the same details mentioned above. 2. On the next page, you would be shown the details of several flights proper. To learn more about the details of the flight, you can simply click on the flight number and it will show the type of aircraft that the flight has. For example, in the image below, the flight number is AI 804 and the aircraft type is an Airbus. Simply go through all the available flights and choose which one you'd like depending on the aircraft shown. Though there are a few Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts from Bangalore to Delhi, they don't run on fixed schedules or daily schedules so you might have trouble if that's the only aircraft that you'd like to book. Once you have chosen your preferred flight number and schedule, you can click on the allotted circle beside it. On the lower part of the page, you can find the fare charges. Go through this and make sure everything is correct. If ever you have a designated promotion code, this is the part where you can input it, at the lowermost part of the page. Click on the Next button once you have validated the information on this page. 3. On the next page, you have the option of logging in as a member. If you are a frequent flyer, you simply input your membership number and password. Click on Logon to continue in the login process. Otherwise, you can also just continue on as a guest user by clicking on the Guest button as shown in the image below. 4. On the next page, essential information about the passenger is required. Your title, first name, middle name, last name and gender would be asked for. The inputted name must match the name on your passport to avoid any delays or inconveniences. If you have any meal preferences, this is also the part where you need to input that. As you can see from the image below, there are a variety of meals that one can choose from like a Hindu Vegetarian Meal, Low Salt Meal, Children's Meal and many more. You can also choose your preferred seat in this section. At the last part, you need to input your contact details such as landline number, mobile number and email address. Click on the Next button once you're done. 5. The next page is the payment section but make sure you double check all the details. Your name, date of birth, flight details and air fares would all be shown. Once confirmed, you can then choose which type of payment is suitable for you. You can choose from credit card, debit card or bank transfer as payment options. Make the necessary payments, click on the Book button and you would be taken to the confirmation page, wherein you can print your electronic ticket from or have it sent to your email address. Conclusion The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is available mostly for long-haul international flights, though sometimes they utilise the aircraft for add-on domestic flights too. The wider body, more comfortable seats, spacious leg area and overall, more luxurious vibe of the aircraft has long been praised by travellers. You can specifically book this aircraft in the Air India website by clicking on the flight number proper and viewing if it does have a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Meals are provided for most flights, you can even choose which type of meal you'd prefer. I hope this helps you!