Bangalore, 4th JUNE 2026: Air India, India’s leading global airline, today announced that its loyalty programme, Maharaja Club, has been named ‘Program of the Year’ in the Middle East & Aisa Pacific region at the prestigious Freddie Awards 2026.
The award marks a significant milestone in the transformation of Maharaja Club and follows its recognition as the ‘Up and Coming Program of the Year’ at the Freddie Awards 2025, marking its rapid evolution into one of the region’s leading airline loyalty programmes.
In addition to winning ‘Program of the Year’, Maharaja Club was recognised as the runner-up in four key categories, ‘Best Promotion’, ‘Best Elite Program’, ‘Best Redemption Ability’ and ‘Best Customer Service’. The strong showing across multiple categories reflects the programme’s continued commitment on delivering a rewarding and differentiated experience for its members.
Voted for by millions of travellers worldwide, the Freddie Awards recognise loyalty programmes that deliver outstanding member experience, value, customer service, redemption opportunities and innovation.
The Freddie Awards, introduced in 1988, are a highly respected global benchmark for travel loyalty programs, having grown in stature and importance to become the most prestigious member-generated awards in the travel loyalty industry. Today, over 7 million voters worldwide cast the Freddie Award ballots annually, with the balloting available in 13 languages, including Hindi.
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said: “This title is a strong validation of the direction we have taken with Maharaja Club. Our focus has been on creating meaningful value for members and building a programme that extends beyond travel into everyday experiences. We are grateful for the trust our members have placed in us, and we remain committed to making Maharaja Club even more rewarding in the years ahead.”
Redesigned in 2024, Maharaja Club moved away from the legacy model of miles-based collection of points to a fairer, more equitable spend-based approach. With a simplified structure, a host of customer-friendly features, renamed tiers, and an updated identity, the programme has added millions of new members over the two years.
Recently, Air India announced several enhancements to the Maharaja Club programme, including reduced redemption levels across at least 90% of the routes served by the airline, a new tier-based structure for rescheduling and cancellations of Award Flights, and reduced flight count thresholds for tier progression.
Air India has now also enabled its Maharaja Club members to earn and redeem Maharaja Points on flights operated by Air India Express, a value-carrier of the Air India group, serving 55 destinations across South, Southeast, and West Asia, with a fleet of more than 100 aircraft.
Additionally, Maharaja Club has significantly expanded its partner ecosystem to more than 100 partners across categories, including airlines, hospitality, retail, lifestyle and financial services, enabling members to earn Maharaja Points across a broad range of travel and everyday spends.
Maharaja Club members can earn and redeem points across 25 Star Alliance partner airlines, enjoy tier privileges worldwide, and access over 1,100 lounges across the globe.
About Air India Group
The Air India Group – comprising full-service global airline, Air India, and value carrier, Air India Express – is spearheading a new era of Indian aviation. The Air India story began in 1932 when JRD Tata piloted the airline’s inaugural flight and opened the skies for aviation in India. Today, Air India Group employs more than 30,000 people, operates over 300 aircraft and carries travellers to 60 domestic and 51 international destinations across five continents.
Returning to Tata Sons in 2022 following 70 years under Government ownership, Air India Group is in the midst of a five-year transformation programme, Vihaan.AI. As part of the transformation, Air India has placed orders for 600 new aircraft. In addition to taking new aircraft deliveries, Air India is progressively retrofitting all its legacy aircraft.
The Air India Group operates South Asia’s largest aviation training academy in Gurugram, India. The construction of a new flying school and a greenfield maintenance base is in progress.
With transformation underway across all facets of the business and India’s rich legacy of hospitality, Air India is committed to being a world class global airline with an Indian heart.
For more news on Air India, visit http://www.airindia.com/newsroom
