Mumbai: Air India commenced the commercial operations of its first wide-body A350 aircraft with a flight taking off for Chennai from the Mumbai airport — heralding a new era for Indian aviation.

The 316-seater A350-900 aircraft has a three-class cabin configuration with 28 private business suites with full-flat beds, 24 premium economy and 264 economy seats.

All seats on the aircraft feature the latest-generation Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment system and HD screens to provide superior flying experience which will be offering an all-new content for our guests on board.

Fitted with the Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines, these aircraft are 20pc more fuel efficient than other similar aircraft, reducing fuel emissions and ensuring sustainable operations.

“Air India flight AI-589 took off from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Monday for Chennai, with a full-capacity load of passengers,” the airline said in a statement.

The aircraft will initially fly on domestic routes — Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai — for crew familiarisation and regulatory compliance.

It will later be deployed for long-haul flights to destinations across continents, strengthening Air India’s growing wide-body fleet, comprising its own and recently leased aircraft, the airline said.

The first of Air India’s own 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, registered VT-JRA, arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport late last month from Airbus’ Toulouse manufacturing facility in France. The aircraft was on display at the recent Wings India Global Aviation Summit in Hyderabad and started its commercial operations on Monday.

The induction of the A350 in Air India’s fleet is a part of the airline’s 470 new aircraft order that it placed early last year.

-B