GURUGRAM- Tata-owned Air India (AI) began operations with the A350 in January, operating domestically from Mumbai (BOM) to Chennai (MAA), Bengaluru (BLR), Delhi (DEL) and Hyderabad (HYD) for regulatory approval and crew training flights.
Earlier this month, the type began operations on the Delhi to Dubai route. Aviation A2Z revealed last week that the carrier will also operate the A350 from Mumbai to Delhi starting June 1. The plan is to eventually put the type on long-haul routes although Air India has yet to announce which ones. Let’s take a look at some of the possibilities.
A world-class, long-haul travel experience
In June last year, Air India firmed up an order for nearly 500 aircraft including 34 Airbus A350-1000s and 6 Airbus A350-900s. Since then, the order has been slightly adjusted, with more A350-900s added to the order. As it stands, the carrier expects to take a total of 20 Airbus A350-900s and 20 of the larger -1000 variant.
It has repeatedly underlined that the A350s are destined for “long-haul flights to destinations across continents”. While it has not confirmed which long-haul flights the plane will operate, Air India has noted that the plane has the capability to fly direct from India to Australia, the USA and Canada. This potentially gives us an indication of where the national airline intends to deploy them. The A350 allows Air India to operate nonstop flights for nearly 15 hours.
We put the A350’s known range in the GC map and found out that except for some countries in South America, Air India can fly its A350 from Delhi to anywhere in the world.
At the time of the aircraft’s delivery, Air India CEO and Managing Director, Campbell Wilson, said:
“As a symbol of the new age of flying, the A350 promises a world-class, long-haul travel experience on our non-stop routes, providing an unparallelled level of comfort. Its excellent flight economics and state-of-the-art technology underscore our dedication to commercially successful operations and to achieving our sustainability goals.”
CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson
Air India A350 Potential Routes
Australian Ambitions
As it stands, Air India operates flights to Sydney (SYD) and Melbourne (MEL). The country has huge potential for flights to India, whether timed in accordance with other services elsewhere to facilitate connections or even on their own.
2023 data published by industry analyst Behramjee Ghadially shows that point-to-point (P2P) traffic to Australia is fairly high.
- Mumbai (BOM) – Sydney (SYD) had 114,000 P2P passengers
- Delhi (DEL) – Brisbane (BNE) had 95,000
- Delhi (DEL) – Perth (PER) had 72,000
- Hyderabad (HYD) to Melbourne (MEL) had 84,000
- Bengaluru (BLR) to Sydney (SYD) had 78,000
- Bengaluru (BLR) to Melbourne (MEL) had 72,000
It wouldn’t make much sense to deploy the A350 from Bengaluru or Hyderabad, but additional services from Delhi or Mumbai make sense. It’s also possible that Air India deploys the A350 on some of its existing routes considering the 787-8s capacity of 256 seats compared with the former’s 316 which also includes premium economy which could be particularly lucrative on flights to Australia.
Delhi to Auckland (AKL) also had 205,000 P2P travelers last year, making it another viable option for the A350.
North America and Canada
According to Simple Flying, the top connections between India and North America where there is no direct flight from Delhi are as follows:
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Seattle (SEA)
- Calgary (YYC)
- Edmonton (YEG)
- Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)
Indeed, the likelihood of services to Calgary and Edmonton is quite low, but Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas all present interesting opportunities for Air India. Furthermore, If it timed correctly for connections to domestic services – and perhaps even flights to the Middle East – these destinations could be perfect for the A350s.
While the Boeing 787 theoretically has the range to fly to North America, its cargo capacity is less than that of the A350 and the Boeing 777, of which Air India currently operates 27.
Indeed, Air India’s CEO has already mentioned that should the 777-9 order be firmed (as it is currently just an option in its order agreement and is still under consideration), they will most likely be used on flights to the continent.
In the meantime, the A350, which offers both more seats and slightly more cargo capacity than the 787, could supply further expansion in North America.
Where do you think the Air India A350s will fly to? Let us know in the comments on our social media pages.
Feature Image By: Eurospot
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