Air India opens bookings for Airbus A350 flights in domestic sectors; check routes, timings and other details

Tata Group-owned Air India on Monday said that its new aircraft Airbus A350 will enter commercial service on January 22. The carrier opened bookings for the flights to be operated by the A350, which will also be India's first such aircraft and will run on domestic routes initially. 

In the beginning, the aircraft will be deployed on routes between Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Later, it will be deployed for longer-haul flights to destinations across continents.

The first flight of the A350 aircraft will be between Bengaluru and Mumbai at 7:05 am, followed by another between Mumbai and Chennai and Chennai and Bengaluru at 10:05 am and 1:20 pm, respectively. These will operate on all days except on Tuesdays.

From the national capital, the first flight in the aircraft will take off on January 23 at 7 pm to Bengaluru. A flight from Bengaluru will land in Delhi at 10:30 am on Tuesday. The days of operations of these flights will be Tuesdays.

On December 23, the first of Air India’s 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, registered VT-JRA, arrived at IGI Airport, Delhi, flying in from the Airbus facility in Toulouse, France.  

The landing of the A350 marked the arrival of the first widebody aircraft from Air India’s record-setting 470 aircraft order – with scheduled arrivals of one new aircraft every six days throughout 2024. "Fitted with the Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines, these aircraft are 20 per cent more fuel efficient than other similar aircraft, reducing fuel emissions and ensuring sustainable operations," an official statement said.

Air India’s A350-900 aircraft comes in a three-class cabin configuration with 316 seats: 28 private business suites with full-flat beds, 24 premium economy seats with extra legroom and other amenities, and 264 spacious economy seats.

Air India earlier rolled out its new global brand identity across guest touchpoints and unveiled its new collection of uniforms for cabin and cockpit crew designed by celebrity couturier, Manish Malhotra. Air India’s cabin crew and pilots will be seen in the new uniforms with the entry of service of the A350.

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