Summary
- Air India’s A350-900 fleet has doubled with the arrival of a second aircraft, VT-JRB, which completed a delivery flight from Toulouse to Delhi.
- The newly arrived A350-900 spent over 6 hours in the air being tested before delivery, with its first test flight taking place on September 11, 2023.
- Air India plans to have a total of 20 A350-900s in its fleet, with the airline also replacing seat covers on the Aeroflot-ordered aircraft for an Air India-specific look.
Air India’s Airbus A350 fleet has ‘doubled’ with the arrival of a second A350-900 airframe. The aircraft departed Airbus facilities in Toulouse on the evening of February 2nd, and arrived in Delhi on the morning of February 3rd.
Aircraft and delivery flight details
The newly arrived A350-900 is registered VT-JRB and bears registration MSN 558. Flightradar24 data indicates that the aircraft departed Airbus facilities in Toulouse at 21:33 local time on February 2. The duration of flight AI558 was eight hours and 21 minutes, with the jet touching down at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi at 10:24 on February 3. For the majority of the flight, the aircraft had a cruising altitude of FL430, higher than most commercial jets.
The delivery of the A350 could be considered a ‘double delivery,’ as Air India accepted its 38th A320neo at the same time. The A320neo registered VT-RTV departed 13 minutes after the A350 and arrived in Delhi two minutes after the widebody.
Photo: Flightradar24
As per Aviation Flights, this airframe spent a total of six hours and 54 minutes of time in the air being tested prior to delivery. The A350 was first assigned test registration F-WZFN and took off for a first test flight on September 11, 2023. A second test flight took place on September 21, while a third (its customer acceptance flight) took place on October 3.
Crew familiarization continues with domestic flights
VT-JRB will join VT-JRA in conducting domestic flights across India as part of crew familiarization. Bookable by the public, the first of these services took place on January 22nd with a flight from Bengaluru to Mumbai as flight AI589. Since then, VT-JRA has conducted some 50 flights, touching down (and departing from) the cities of:
- Bengaluru (BLR)
- Chennai (MAA)
- Delhi (DEL)
- Hyderabad (HYD)
- Mumbai (BOM)
Photo: Aerospace Trek | Shutterstock.com
Ordered by Aeroflot
Both A350s were originally ordered by Aeroflot. Indeed, Air India’s first six A350s were initially ordered by the Russian flag carrier but became undeliverable due to sanctions amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Planespotters.net data indicates that VT-JRB was initially due to be registered as VP-BYX for service with Aeroflot. The jet was supposed to have the Aeroflot nickname Д. Шостакович (D. Shostakovich), an abbreviation of the name Dmitri Shostakovich, a well-known Russian composer from the Soviet-era.
The aircraft maintains the original seating configuration ordered by Aeroflot:
- 28 business class seats
- 24 in premium economy
- 264 economy
The lack of Air India-specific customization is due to supply chain constraints. Nonetheless, the Indian carrier has replaced seat covers, giving it a look specific to Air India.
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18 more A350-900s to go
Air India plans to take a total of 20 A350-900s. The carrier had initially sought 34 A350-1000s and six A350-900s, the six being the jets originally ordered by Aeroflot. However, a change was made in early December which will see the airline take 20 -1000s and 20 -900s.
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