Air India aims to elevate passenger experience with its new lounge at San Francisco airport

Air India is working to elevate passengers experience and tap its heritage, with the full-service carrier opening its Maharaja Lounge at San Francisco airport, a key city for the airlines North American market.The lounge is also the first one to be opened outside India after Tata Group took over the loss-making airline in January 2022.Since 2022, there has been a lot of effort to transform this airline, to make it a world-class airline with an Indian heart.

Air India is working to elevate passengers' experience and tap its heritage, with the full-service carrier opening its Maharaja Lounge at San Francisco airport, a key city for the airline's North American market.

The lounge is also the first one to be opened outside India after Tata Group took over the loss-making airline in January 2022.

''Since 2022, there has been a lot of effort to transform this airline, to make it a world-class airline with an Indian heart. A lot of focus has been put on elevating the customer experience on various fronts,'' Mohit Gandhi, Head of Lounge Strategy at Air India, said last week.

Speaking after the launch of the lounge here last week, Gandhi said the expansion is the next step in transforming the carrier into a global airline with an Indian core.

Rajesh Dogra, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Air India, said that at the airline, the ambition is to elevate customer experience at every touchpoint of the journey.

''The opening of The Maharaja Lounge at San Francisco International Airport is a proud milestone in that pursuit and another step in our commitment to roll out an enhanced lounge experience in key international markets,'' he said.

The airline operates around 65 weekly flights between North America and India.

The lounge has been conceptualised by global hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) and is the second in a series of signature lounges envisioned by Air India. In February, the carrier inaugurated the first signature Maharaja Lounge at the Delhi airport.

In a release last week, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said North America has long been a key pillar of its network, and the continued investments reflect both this commitment and our ambition to introduce a new standard of travel experiences in the region in the time to come.

Spread over 3,300 square feet, the lounge at the San Francisco airport is available for First and Business Class passengers as well as Platinum and Gold members of the airline's Maharaja Club loyalty programme.

Currently, Air India has a fleet of around 190 planes and new aircraft are joining its fleet.