Air India's first A350 to make debut on May 1 between Delhi and Dubai

Air India announced on Thursday that it will deploy its latest A350 aircraft on the busy Delhi-Dubai route this summer, marking the aircraft’s debut on short-haul international flights.

The company stated that starting 1 May 2024, Air India passengers flying between Delhi and Dubai can experience the A350. Operating as AI995/996, the aircraft is scheduled to depart Delhi daily at 20:45, arriving at 22:45 in Dubai. The return flight departs Dubai the next day at 00:15 and arrives in Delhi at 04:55. All timings are local.

“The A350 seats on the Delhi-Dubai route are available for reservation on Air India’s website and mobile app or via travel agents,” the company said.

This makes Air India the only carrier to operate the A350 between India and Dubai.

Air India started inducting the A350s earlier this year, which have since operated flights within India for crew familiarisation and regulatory compliance purposes.

Air India currently operates a total of 72 flights a week to Dubai from five Indian cities, of which 32 flights are from Delhi.

Founded by Indian industrialist JRD Tata, Air India was nationalised in 1953. Recently, Air India and Air India Express were bought back by the Tata group in January 2022 due to the government’s privatisation policy.