In what the airline says will pave the way for new digital innovations and enhance operational efficiencies, Air India has shut down data centres in Mumbai and Delhi, transforming into cloud-only Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, becoming one of the first major global airlines to do so.

Air India, the flag carrier of India, has successfully migrated to a cloud-only IT infrastructure with the closure of its data centres in Mumbai and New Delhi. This makes Air India one of the first major global airlines to have moved all computational workloads exclusively to the cloud.

According to a press statement by Air India, this move brings technological agility and scalability to Air India to accelerate its digital transformation effort. This paves way for new digital innovations and applications to enhance operational efficiencies, customer and employee experiences. The airline says that the closure of the data centres will further result in net savings of nearly a million dollars every year.

“At Air India, we have adopted ‘cloud-only’ as our computational infrastructure philosophy. For us, cloud is not just about cost savings and operational efficiencies but is a fundamental way to reimagine computing itself and a critical lever to accelerate innovation. We have adopted a strategic mix of Software-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service and Infrastructure-as-a-Service methodologies in Air India’s transformation journey, allowing us to innovate faster and provide a flexible and reliable computational and networking infrastructure for the company,” says Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Air India.

“We are proud to be a part of Air India’s cloud transformation journey. Air India’s successful migration to Microsoft Azure shows the power and adaptability of the Microsoft cloud, and how we can effectively support leaders in the global airline industry like Air India. We are delighted with our continued collaboration with Air India, enabling innovation and unleashing the potential of AI, at the same time building the platform for faster decision making and improved customer experiences,” says Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India & South Asia.