Hello from India, as I just flew Air India’s Airbus A350-900 business class on the 9hr10min flight from London (LHR) to Delhi (DEL), as the first part of my review trip. Air India has obviously been through quite the journey in the past several years, as it has been privatized, and is trying to reinvent itself. Admittedly this process is all quite slow, given the delays with new aircraft and seats.
That being said, I couldn’t wait to experience the best of Air India, on the carrier’s A350. So, how was the experience? Really, really good. I was delighted, from the cabin and seats, to the amenities, to the food and drinks, to the service, to the entertainment and free Wi-Fi. In particular, I also loved how the airline is embracing its home country with just about every aspect of the service offered — it’s uniquely Indian.
If Air India can make this its standard long haul experience rather than the exception, the airline will be a force to be reckoned with. I’d gladly fly Air India again, and in many markets, would even seek out the airline. Let me share some initial impressions, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report…
In this post:
Air India’s A350 business class seats are exceptional
For context, Air India’s A350 fleet currently consists of six jets, and they’re all planes that were initially intended for Aeroflot, but that Air India took over due to sanctions. This is the same product you’ll find on select Turkish Airlines A350s. Air India will soon take delivery of its first custom designed A350, which will feature the carrier’s new first and business class.
Air India’s A350s have 28 business class seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration. Specifically, this is the Collins Aerospace Horizon product.
Think of it as a very good staggered business class product with doors at every seat. Business class seats don’t get much better, so Air India gets high marks for that. I also found the cabin to still be in good condition, with everything working as it should (I had seen some complaints online about wear and tear on these planes, but was surprised to not notice that).
In bed mode I found the seat to be comfortable as well. Air India even has individual air nozzles on these planes, which is somewhat rare on non-US airlines, so that helps with getting comfortable (along with the cabin not being kept too warm).
There’s even a little bar in the galley behind business class, often described as a social area. I heard this can get quite full on daytime flights, though I was on an awkwardly timed redeye, so most people just slept.
When it comes to entertainment, there was a solid selection of movies, TV shows, games, and audio programming. I wouldn’t quite put it in the league of the world’s top entertainment systems, but you definitely shouldn’t get bored.
Of course my favorite feature of any A350 entertainment system is the tail camera. How can you get bored of that?!?
Air India’s A350s also feature Wi-Fi in partnership with Panasonic. I found the speeds to be good, and best of all, the service was free with no data caps (technically it’s only free for an introductory period, but it has lasted for some time, and there’s no indication this will be changing).
Air India’s business class amenities are extensive
Air India sure showers you with gifts when you board a long haul business class flight. For one, there was top notch bedding — a thick pillow, a mattress pad (which doubles as a pillow until you “unroll” it), a cozy duvet, and a light blanket.
Then there’s a Ferragamo amenity kit, stocked with all the essentials. Though perhaps my favorite part of the kit was the gorgeous bag it was presented in, with a lotus mandala design, and a golden maharaja keychain of sorts.
Then pajamas were offered. I believe Air India offered Tumi pajamas for some time, but the ones I was offered weren’t branded, so I assume that’s no longer the case? Either way, I found the pajamas to be comfortable.
There were also slippers, useful for visiting the lavatory.
Lastly, there were headphones, presented in a beautiful bag.
Air India’s business class food & drinks are really good
I am obsessed with Indian food, as it’s among my favorite cuisine. I also think it makes for good airplane food, given that it typically reheats well, and is so packed with flavor. On my flight, lunch was served after takeoff, with a dine on demand concept. How nice that Air India offers that nowadays (while carriers like Emirates don’t).
Service began with drinks and mixed nuts. Air India serves Laurent Perrier champagne nowadays, which is great. I’m impressed by how Air India has upgraded its alcoholic drink selection over the years.
For the starter, I selected the spiced watermelon with whipped feta, honey, and olive tapenade. Yum, and it was super spicy. I will say, the bread roll was just kind of hard and not hot, but I wasn’t going to waste any calories or carbs on that anyway, when I knew there was paratha coming with the main course.
For the main course, I ordered the paneer kofta, served with paratha, daal, and raita. Again, you can’t go wrong with this kind of food on a plane, and it was simple and delicious.
Next up, there was the choice of dessert, fruit, and/or cheese. I selected the rajbhog with rabdi (cheese dumpling with cardamon flavored reduced milk). Yum yum yum yum. I also had a cheese plate. It was worth however long I have to spend on the elliptical to work it off.
With a planned 4AM arrival, the pre-landing meal was more of a midnight snack than a breakfast, which is my preference anyway. This included a side of curried couscous with cauliflower, and a chicken shawarma and tahini sandwich, accompanied by fish cakes, cauliflower fritters, and sweet potato and chickpea falafel. There was also a dessert of saffron phirni with gulab jamun.
I loved the way that coffee was presented, in very cute maharaja mugs, with delicious cookies from India’s Le15.
Now, in the interest of being constructive, there were a few areas for improvement. For one, it would be nice if they replaced cutlery between the appetizer and main course, rather than just putting them back on the day to be reused. It’s of course a minor detail, but would make for more of a restaurant style experience.
Furthermore, it would be nice if Air India expanded its hot drink selection to include espresso and real cappuccino (rather than the powdered cappuccino it offers). Lastly, the cabin lights for the pre-landing meal were (dimly) turned on three hours before landing, which seems mighty early for that, especially with many people looking to maximize rest, given the 4AM arrival.
Air India’s business class service is warm and attentive
Air India has long offered warm hospitality, and this flight was no exception. I was being served by cabin manager Bendangjungla and flight attendant Sidhant, and they were warm and professional. It’s really nice how much Air India tries to personalize the service.
For example, the cabin manager (who was ex-Vistara) came around during boarding to explain the seat to each passenger, and welcome them onboard. Then she said goodbye to each business class passenger before landing. You really get the feeling that there’s a sense of pride among employees at Air India, and that they’re really invested in the company’s transformation.
I also have to commend the crew for keeping the lavatories clean throughout the flight. Some Air India passengers struggle to clean up after themselves in the lavatory, despite the airline literally having an announcement after takeoff about lavatory etiquette.
Bottom line
I’m delighted I finally had the chance to fly the “new” Air India, and goodness, it didn’t disappoint. The A350 cabin was great (as expected — it’s a plane I’ve flown before on Turkish), the inflight entertainment was solid, Wi-Fi was free and pretty fast, food was delicious, amenities were good, and service was hospitable.
If Air India can keep this momentum going and implement a similar (or even better) product across its long haul fleet, it’ll be a force to be reckoned with, and can compete with the best of them.
The catch is that even though Air India was privatized several years ago, the airline is only at the start of its transformation. Currently you’ll only find a great hard product on half a dozen A350s, but hey, that’s progress. Sadly the carrier’s 777 cabins are largely falling apart, and that’s a much more common experience for the average passenger at the moment. Hopefully in a couple of years that looks materially different.
What do you make of Air India’s A350 business class?
I don’t care. You could offer me $100,000 and I wouldn’t step anywhere near one of their planes.
Did you check out the Pilot's information before Boarding?
Mr. Ben:
Thanks for writing a good review about your
experience in your recent visit to india by
air bus 350-900.
am glad to note that you you enjoyed everything in the flight including indian foods. you must visit indian cities stay in
hotels and eat diff food in diff restaurant and five star hotels you will really enjoy
Tatas who owned airindia also own several
5 star hotels in...
Mr. Ben:
Thanks for writing a good review about your
experience in your recent visit to india by
air bus 350-900.
am glad to note that you you enjoyed everything in the flight including indian foods. you must visit indian cities stay in
hotels and eat diff food in diff restaurant and five star hotels you will really enjoy
Tatas who owned airindia also own several
5 star hotels in several cities and they do
catering to airindia and other airlines.
i am very happy to read your good review about AI, who was my former employer where i have served 27 years.
thanks
I‘m happy Ben had a nice experience after all the bad luck people had with AI in recent times.
This typifies the old adage that “you can pit lipstick on a pig but it will always be a pig” wonderful when it’s brand new but then the maintenance and fleet presentation is so poor - I could never relax - their 747’a in first class many years ago were fantastic but…..
Well......if you travel on any US air limes, United or Delta One and KLM, AF...........Business and the 1st class ain't any better , run down shifty service and old configurations!!
Given the time of the privatization of AI, future looks good.........all the best!
Air India lacks and will always lack consistency
I came here expecting to find all the pro-India trolls that attacked Ben the last gave a bad review to be here apologizing. Seems they are hiding behind their keyboards.
The seats are “exceptional”? Aren’t they just repurposed Delta one or Aeroflot seats? Never heard those described as exceptional within the range of business class offerings. Is this something different?
Yes, when it's Delta offering the product, it's just average and nothing interesting.
When Air India does it, it's "exceptional". Pure bias on display
I flew the A359 JFK-DEL two weeks ago, then continued to SYD on the Boeing 788. For sleeping, I did find the Airbus seating to be comfortable only while lying on my back. For side sleepers, there's nowhere for your knees to go. I actually slept better on the aging 788, though in every other respect the new A359 was a better experience.
The crews on both flights were delightful and well-meaning. They just aren't...
I flew the A359 JFK-DEL two weeks ago, then continued to SYD on the Boeing 788. For sleeping, I did find the Airbus seating to be comfortable only while lying on my back. For side sleepers, there's nowhere for your knees to go. I actually slept better on the aging 788, though in every other respect the new A359 was a better experience.
The crews on both flights were delightful and well-meaning. They just aren't trained to the same standard as most other airlines' crews, though. There seems to be no rigor of a cabin service plan that is well thought out. I happen to really appreciate the chaos of India and its wonderful people, so all this made me smile rather than annoy me. But hopefully AI will get some help on cabin service management from SQ.
There was already visible wear & tear on the cabin interior of the A359. Cleaning and maintenance standards need to improve at Air India if they are going to change their reputation.
Yes, I've heard similar reports of the A350s already experiencing substantial wear & tear as well.
How was the smell in the cabin?
Those of us who have actually travelled to and around India, would strongly recommend that before making uneducated sounding statements, one would actually do well to visit the country first. Failing to do so can make one look such a fool without qualifying statements, yes, Julie?
Nice! I'm flying this the other way in a few months and looking forward to trying it out. So in the social area there was just a full bottle of champagne that passengers could uncork for themselves? Would be a kind of fun thing to do...
I thought I would never see the words "Air India" described with the words "world class" for very very long time
The unfixable problem with Air India is that you are flying to or from India. Not an enviable position to be in
Huh?
Totally understand. One is often put in the same position flying UA, DL or AA.
This is the oasis experience in a desert . They barely have 6 A350s and in addition to that they are losing the leases ex-777LRs in the very near future. All their other wide bodies and most narrow bodies are in a very bad state. Even their maintenance is awful. In Canada necessary blame the current private management for this. It’s just that these are legacy aircraft that were required and maintained by the old...
This is the oasis experience in a desert . They barely have 6 A350s and in addition to that they are losing the leases ex-777LRs in the very near future. All their other wide bodies and most narrow bodies are in a very bad state. Even their maintenance is awful. In Canada necessary blame the current private management for this. It’s just that these are legacy aircraft that were required and maintained by the old government management. And their way of maintaining the aircraft was essentially grounding aircraft and than using it for spare parts. India still has one 777-300 ER that was used for spare parts and it’s still parked in Nagpur and might have to be officially strapped at some point of time.
Maybe When they have enough new aircraft and have retired a major part of the old legacy aircraft, this might still be a good airline. But till then it’s an airline on the must avoid list.
This is the part of Air India which some people wish it was the entirety. They have only six A350s and 777s with new(er) seats and the rest of 13 777s and 26 787s are gifting its flyers a journey of horror. You can't make a judgement on AI's state without flying on one of these.
"Air India sure showers you with gifts when you board a long haul business class flight."
No Air India business class shower is complete without the Wells Fargo golden shower. It's raining gifts of gold.
Does the airplane smell awful?
Interesting about the timing of the pre-arrival meal. I flew them DEL-LHR on the night flight leaving at around 2am, with a duration of about 9 hours. I was super grumpy and annoyed that they whacked the lights on to serve breakfast over Istanbul, about 3.5 hours before landing. It seemed so unnecessary when other airlines can bash out a single-tray breakfast 75-90 mins before landing.
It will age badly. AI's issue is their customer base. All the employee training in the world can only go so far. If customer etiquette doesn't change, it's all for naught.
Agreed, there's a reason why their toilets are always clogged.
These A350s will soon become as decrepit and worn down as their 777s.
Serve all that Indian food on a 9 hour flight and you’re asking for trouble…
Couldn't agree more. Add to that the type of food they serve, although it is very tasteful, it unfortunately smells pretty strong and no matter what you do, curry and other spices will stick into the cabin in a way you can't mask it.
Combine that with the innate body odor and you'll be wishing the amenity kit included nose plugs and not ear plugs.
“the airline literally having an announcement after takeoff about lavatory etiquette”
Wut? I’m out!
It’s nice because it’s new. But give it a year, and it’ll be as decrepit as every other aspect of that airline.
Air India buys nice things. But they cannot keep them nice. That’s their problem.
These frames were all delivered 2+ years ago. Maybe check back in another 2 years and then we will be able to evaluate this. The airline is no longer government run so it's probably not fair to equate their 777 fleet to the A350 fleet
It is fair to equate how they are treating their current fleet.
If they can't be bothered to repair their 777s (which make up a large part of their fleet), once their A350s start breaking down, what makes you think they'll maintain and repair those?
They can have the best business class in the world, I would still not fly them, at least not voluntarily. Too many incidents to consider this airline safe.
I don't know whether to accuse you of being a liar, a paid or shill, or whether Air India has truly cast off its last few decades of government-owned indolence, but assuming that your travelogue is even halfway honest, Air India has a more than fighting chance of redeeeming itself.
C'mon now. Look through the archive. If your claim is true, Air India needs to invest in a better shill. The pictures speak for themselves: it's a sharp/new cabin and the seats, amenity bag, & service items speak for themselves. Even if you don't like the design of the plates or whatever, I think you have to acknowledge they are at least respectable and on par with other airlines.
The only parts we need...
C'mon now. Look through the archive. If your claim is true, Air India needs to invest in a better shill. The pictures speak for themselves: it's a sharp/new cabin and the seats, amenity bag, & service items speak for themselves. Even if you don't like the design of the plates or whatever, I think you have to acknowledge they are at least respectable and on par with other airlines.
The only parts we need to trust Ben on are the taste of the food and quality of the service. I guess that's up to you but, even then, I don't think most people consider those to be the most important considerations.
I agree with the James that the real test will be what the cabin looks like in a year (or 10...) and I think most ppl familiar with the brand are highly skeptical they'll be able to maintain everything properly. But Lucky can't speak to that, he can only review what he experiences at the time of his flight.
@JJ
Except the fact that this is showcasing a fraction of this airline's status.
I hope you can say the same after getting a golden shower from a Wells Fargo executive on their falling apart A320s and 777s.
Interesting review. Hopefully AI is getting their house in order.
How did you book this?
@ Christian -- Aeroplan points for a business class ticket from LHR-DEL-KUL.
Namaste.
I wish more airlines would offer proper baskets for bread rather than just some odd plate. And more bread options such as roti, paratha, pita, etc. would be nice aside from the usual rolls one would get.
Great to see some creativity all around nonetheless.
I love the Turkish Airlines bread selections for breakfast. They have simit, pide, croissant, regular rolls, etc.
As someone who loves bread in general, more variety would be nice. I'd be happy even with sourdough and ciabatta as you don't see them on offer on many carriers.
As croissants, muffins, and Danishes get boring for your usual breakfast offering, bagels, whole meal toast, crumpets/scones, and even something like raisin bread wouldn't hurt.
And proper serving and presentation is just as important.
India in general seems to have a culture of very little upkeep/maintenance. Even 5 star hotels built over 10-15 years ago feel very very worn out. So hopefully the airline will work against the engrained culture and invest in maintenance and upkeep of these planes
Don’t know which 10-15 years old 5 star hotel you went to but the ones that I have been visiting in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai have been fantastic and very well kept
Agreed Eve. While the tap water sucks and is to be avoided at all cost, the upkeep of the hotels I have stayed at have all been fantastic. Even the midnight buffets.
this means absolutely nothing if they dont maintain it.... just saying. lets see how this looks in less than a year
Ben, I’m truly glad you finally managed to fly AI’s A350. With all the horrible reviews and comments recently on AI cabins falling apart — which, believe me, are fully justified given AI’s poor maintenance history — this only marks the start of what might well shape up to be a phenomenal turnaround for one of the most-maligned airlines in the world. The Tatas and SQ have had a big role to play in this,...
Ben, I’m truly glad you finally managed to fly AI’s A350. With all the horrible reviews and comments recently on AI cabins falling apart — which, believe me, are fully justified given AI’s poor maintenance history — this only marks the start of what might well shape up to be a phenomenal turnaround for one of the most-maligned airlines in the world. The Tatas and SQ have had a big role to play in this, especially with morale low after the tragedy of AI171. What they’ve done so far, at least on A350s and ex-Vistara aircraft, is commendable.
It’s been a year since the Vistara brand flew into the sunset, and I only wish you’d fly its A321neo or 787-9 on the DEL–SIN route as a tribute. The ex-Vistara A320neo that you will fly to KUL isn’t much different from domestic first class in the US. Meanwhile the A321neo has lie-flats, though of course it won’t be as great as that on Starlux or ITA’s A321neo, and the 787-9 has the same J product as SQ A350 Regionals and 787-10s.
Enjoy your stay at the top of the Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, and the SQ 737 MAX after that — content like this is what we’ve been waiting for!
Enjoying rubbing in your gaslight victory?
Now rub one off by
"visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)"
I'm all for seeing a good business class product from this airline. But does it solve and answer the question, why did their other aircraft/product offerings become so poorly maintained and shoddy? (the headline making dirty cabins, etc.)
Because if those underlying maintenance and investment issues are still present, what is stopping / when will this new product similarly get degraded and start going down the tubes?
@ Eric Schmidt -- It's a great point, of course, and it's why I said "now we need more of this." Indeed, this isn't the experience most people get. I've obviously heavily criticized Air India for its lack of maintenance on 777s.
The way it was explained to me, since the seats are no longer in production, the airline is having a hard time sourcing the parts needed to fix the seats, and we're...
@ Eric Schmidt -- It's a great point, of course, and it's why I said "now we need more of this." Indeed, this isn't the experience most people get. I've obviously heavily criticized Air India for its lack of maintenance on 777s.
The way it was explained to me, since the seats are no longer in production, the airline is having a hard time sourcing the parts needed to fix the seats, and we're seeing hundreds of the business class seats break per month. They're being fixed, but probably not as well as they should be.
I still feel like the airline could do better with those seats than it's doing. I'm hopeful that with newer seats that are still in production, cabin maintenance becomes much more of a focus.
I agree, but I think it's also a convenient excuse from Air India. Those poorly maintained seats were in addition, just dirty and uncleaned. You can clean seats even if parts are not available, unless somehow the deteriorating condition of the seats made them less "enthusiastic" to do cleaning anymore, somehow.
It's a reflection of an airline culture / policy I think. And that's why I have a suspicion new seats won't last long...
I agree, but I think it's also a convenient excuse from Air India. Those poorly maintained seats were in addition, just dirty and uncleaned. You can clean seats even if parts are not available, unless somehow the deteriorating condition of the seats made them less "enthusiastic" to do cleaning anymore, somehow.
It's a reflection of an airline culture / policy I think. And that's why I have a suspicion new seats won't last long against shoddy maintenance that has been an airline decision at its core.