Airlines
Air India to use Aeroflot cabins on first Airbus A350s due to supply issues
Six Airbus A350 aircraft are anticipated to join the airline before the end of the year, and some of these will include Aeroflot cabins.
In order to get around scheduling and supply chain restrictions, the widebody jets will be delivered to Air India with the Russian airline’s cabins, according to Campbell Wilson, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Air India group, who addressed a media briefing on February 27, 2023. approvals.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says that due to time & supply chain constraints, the ✈️ will retain the configuration of Aeroflot's A350.
Six of those will join by end of 2023 #aviation #PaxEx #AirIndia pic.twitter.com/UyhlUikDJE
— Arindam Majumder (@ari_maj) February 27, 2023
The Russian carrier initially purchased 22 A350-900s, but as Western sanctions grew more severe, Airbus was unable to actually deliver the aircraft. The seat arrangements for these Air India Airbus A350-900s, which were previously planned for Aeroflot, are currently unknown.
According to the source, Turkish may also acquire the set A350 aircraft by May of this year, which is also in a similar arrangement. The delivery slots are now reserved and prepared for the second half of this year.
As Air India CEO confirmed that the airline will retain the Aeroflot configuration, here is a look at the Aeroflot A350 cabin.
?1 : 28 Business class seats in 1-2-1 layout
?2 : Bar area
?3 : 24 Premium Economy seats in 2-4-2 layout
?4: 264 Economy seats in 3-3-3 layout pic.twitter.com/pYXOFwneJ7
— JetArena (@ArenaJet) February 27, 2023
The first deliveries from the 250 aircraft deal “are anticipated to commence with the first A350-900 arriving by late-2023,” according to an Airbus release from February 14, 2023.
The Aeroflot-ordered configuration of these aircraft—28 business, 24 comfort (premium economy), and 264 economy seats—will now be delivered to Air India this year. AI won’t alter this passenger accommodation layout (LOPA) due to supply chain concerns as that would delay their induction.
Also, the existing wide-body aircraft’s cabin upgrades will be finished by the end of the next year as part of the $400 million initiative.
