Civil aviation minister Praful Patel with Indian Airlines MD Sushma Chawla in New Delhi on Wednesday. The newly-inducted Airbus aircraft shown in inset. Picture by Rajesh Kumar

New Delhi, Dec. 7: Indian Airlines has been re-christened as Indian with a new logo inspired by the Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel said the image makeover would begin with the induction of three leased Airbus A319s into the fleet this month.

The first of the A319s arrived here today, sporting the new logo of a flaming orange sun with a dash of blue painted on it.

?This is the first new aircraft to join the fleet after 11 years,? Patel said.

?The new look of the airline communicates a bold, striking, progressive and distinctive image,? said Patel.

The airline has adopted the sun-wheel to symbolise the ?timeless motion and trust that has stood the test of time?.

Moreover, the name Indian would appear on both sides of the tail in English and the Devanagari script.

Patel said the arrival of the new aircraft would enable the airline to ?take on competition head on?.

?The aircraft signals a new era for Indian Airlines and it will induct one new plane every month from the second half of 2006,? he said.