ew Delhi, May 3: Air India has commenced services with its A350 aircraft on the international route by operating the first Delhi-Dubai flight on Wednesday and plans to fly the wide-body plane on more overseas routes in the coming months.The Tata Group-owned carrier is now operating a daily service between Delhi and Dubai, with the plane featuring a three-class cabin configuration with 316 seats.
In a release on Thursday, Air India said it commenced flights on the Delhi-Dubai route using its A350-900 aircraft on Wednesday and currently, it is the only airline to deploy the plane between India and Dubai.
A source in the know said the airline is likely to start deploying the A350 plane for operations on the London route by November.
The airline will also be operating the plane on more international routes.
Air India started inducting the A350 planes this year and are being used for domestic flights as well. The airline has placed an order for 40 A350 planes and at least four of them are in its fleet.
Currently, Air India operates 72 flights a week to Dubai from five Indian cities, of which 32 are from Delhi.
Meanwhile, “In view of the ongoing situation in parts of the Middle East, we have extended the temporary suspension of our flights to and from Tel Aviv to May 15, 2024. We are continuously monitoring the situation and are extending support to our passengers who have confirmed bookings for travel to and from Tel Aviv during this period, with a one-time waiver on rescheduling and cancellation charges. Safety of our guests and crew remains our foremost priority,” Air India said in a statement.
AI had suspended this route after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and had resumed the same on March 3. And then the route was again suspended on April 14.