First Look: Air India Receives its First A350

The new era of Air India has officially touched down as the Indian flag carrier took delivery of its first Airbus A350 earlier today.

India's First A350

Air India's first A350 landed in Delhi just after 1:45 pm local time, having been ferried directly from Airbus' Toulouse, France factory. The flight, aptly operated under the callsign "Air India 350", was the most-tracked flight on Flightradar24 for several hours.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson expressed his excitement for the new delivery:

"This moment marks a red-letter day for all of us at Air India. The A350 is not just metal and engines; it's the flying embodiment of the relentless efforts of all Air India employees towards our airline's continuing transformation and of our commitment to setting new benchmarks. It is also, in many ways, a declaration of Indian aviation's resurgence on the world stage."

VT-JRA is a brand-new Airbus A350-900. It was originally destined for Russian flag carrier Aeroflot. However, due to current sanctions placed on the country, Russian airlines are banned from taking delivery of new Western-built aircraft.

The next five A350-900s destined for Air India were also initially ordered by Aeroflot. However, because they were not taken up and already built, Air India was able to procure these aircraft for a rather discounted rate.

Air India configures its A350-900s with 316 seats. These consist of 28 Business Class Suites, 24 Premium Economy seats, and 264 in Economy.

In addition to being Air India's first, VT-JRA is the first A350 for India as a country. More are expected as the upcoming five other ex-Aeroflot planes will be delivered through March 2024. Aside from these, Air India has orders for 14 more A350-900s and 20 A350-1000s. 

Where Will Air India's A350s Fly?

Because the A350 is a completely new aircraft for Air India, the carrier will operate these planes on domestic segments for the next few months. These are meant to serve primarily as crew familiarization flights before the aircraft are put into proper long-haul service.

According to Air India, the official domestic schedule for the A350 will be released in the coming weeks. Air India presently flies widebodies on a handful of domestic routes. Therefore, it's expected that these routes might be among those selected for the A350 training flights.

Such routes include Delhi to Mumbai, Delhi to Hyderabad, and Delhi to Chennai.

It is worth noting that despite these being "crew training" flights, they will still operate as revenue passenger flights. Many airlines have done similar flights in the past such as British Airways with the A380 and Lufthansa with the A350.

Air India has not specified what international routes the A350 will operate once it clears the "training" stage. However, given the A350's remarkable range and economics, all of Air India's long-haul routes seem like likely possibilities.

Air India's Renaissance

The delivery of its first A350 shows that Air India's renaissance, heavily influenced by its privatization and takeover by the TATA Group, is well underway.

The A350 orders were included in Air India's massive 470-aircraft order for both Airbus and Boeing planes announced earlier this year.

In addition to A350s, Air India is expecting over 80 new A320neo, 140 A321neo, 140 Boeing 737 MAX, 20 787-9, and 10 777-9X aircraft in the coming years.