Air India to introduce A350 plane on two U.S. routes

Air India will start using new Airbus A350-900 aircraft on two U.S. routes in the coming months.

The airline will operate the new plane daily on New York JFK-Delhi flights from Nov. 1 and Newark-Delhi flights five times per week from Jan. 2.

The A350 deployment will introduce Air India’s premium economy class on the New York and Newark routes. Twenty-four seats are arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration in a cabin that offers extra legroom and wider seats than economy. 

Air India’s A350 aircraft also features 28 suites in business class with full-flat beds in a 1-2-1 configuration. Each suite has direct aisle access, sliding privacy doors and a personal wardrobe. 

The 264 economy seats are arranged in a 3-4-3 configuration. 

All seats on the A350 come with the latest-generation Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment system and HD screens that offer entertainment content from around the world.  

With deployment of the A350, 60% of all Air India flights to the U.S. will feature new or upgraded cabin interiors. 

The airline now operates its three-class Boeing 777-200LR on all nonstop flights between India (Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru) and San Francisco with upgraded cabin interiors, except for thrice-weekly Delhi-San Francisco service.

Premium economy seats on Air India’s A350. Photo Credit: Air India

Each of the Boeing 777-200LRs has 28 suites with full-flat beds in business, 48 seats in premium economy and 212 in economy. 

Air India also operates a three-class Boeing 777-300ER on all flights to Mumbai from New York JFK and Newark, featuring eight first-class suites, 40 full-flat beds in business and 280 seats in economy. 

Air India currently has five U.S. gateways: New York JFK, Newark, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.