Air India will deploy its A350-900s to London Heathrow from New Delhi starting September 01, 2024. It will operate 14 out of 17 frequencies with the A350s, while the three frequencies will continue to be operated by the 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
The A350s will be replacing the B777-300ER and the change will lead to an addition of 336 seats on the Delhi – London sector, which is capped by Frequencies and not seats in the Bilateral Air Services Agreement. Air India had started commercial operations with the A350s in January this year and then deployed it to Dubai starting May 01.
The flights which will move to A350s are AI 111/112 and AI 161/162. With the deployment of the A350-900 to London Heathrow in September, Air India will have upgraded 90% of all its flights to London Heathrow. From April 2024, Air India started deploying its recently inducted Boeing 777-300ERs with elevated cabin interiors on all flights across its Mumbai-London Heathrow route to provide upgraded cabin interiors and inflight entertainment systems, while bringing First class back on the London Heathrow-Mumbai route.
The change in equipment will help the airline better compete with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic in terms of product with Virgin Atlantic having been through a fleet renewal process and deploying the A350-1000 or the B787-9 on the route while British Airways operating a mix of older and newer aircraft.
The airline will not offer First class between Delhi and London with this change and will see a reduction in Business class seats, however there will be the Premium Economy offering which will be added.
Introducing Premium Economy and an all-new Air India experience across cabins
Air India will introduce its Premium Economy class experience for the first time on the Delhi-London Heathrow route with A350-900. It will offer guests the choice of 24 wide seats arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration in a dedicated, upscale cabin.
Air India’s A350 flights will also feature new soft products and award-winning guest enhancements unveiled earlier this year. These enhancements include new chinaware, new tableware and glassware, new bedding, and updated amenity kits for Business and Premium Economy guests, exclusively designed by Ferragamo and TUMI, respectively.
Paves the way to launch more flights to the United States
The changes also mean that two airframes of B777-300ER (ex-Etihad) are freed up which can be used for either sending legacy aircraft for refurbishment – which as per Air India was to start around this time but media reports have indicated a delay, or to start new routes to the Americas. There are high changes that help add frequency to New York / Newark or launch more points in Canada or the East Coast of the United States. Currently Air India operates four times a week service to Newark from Delhi, which can be made daily or add a new point like Boston and Montreal (where Air Canada already operates).
Network Thoughts
This is a much anticipated and expected move from Air India. The next one to look out for will be how the group manages the transition of Vistara’s daily operations from London to Air India. This will give it the scale and market power as compared to other routes of Vistara.
The thorn in the whole puzzle will be the thrice a week service on the Dreamliner – which along with legacy B777s is popular with complaints ranging from broken seats, non functional IFE amongst others.
The route remains perfect for deploying the Boeing 77X, ten of which are on order by Air India, as and when they are available for delivery.
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