Air India's most important planes of the past few years weren't built for Air India at all. The airline's first Airbus A350s were made for Aeroflot, Russia's national airline. When sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine stopped Airbus from delivering them, the jets needed a new home, and Air India took six of them.
Air India's A350 at the gate at JFK and its economy cabin. Credit: Zach Benitez / Contrail
It turned out to be a lucky break. Those few planes arrived just as Air India was trying to convince the world it had changed, and they ended up becoming the face of the entire rebrand.
Air India · Airbus A350
From Aeroflot Order to Air India Flagship
Contrail
Built for Moscow, Flown From Delhi
Aeroflot had ordered 22 A350-900s and received seven before the sanctions hit. Airbus found new buyers for the rest, and Air India confirmed in early 2023 that it would take six. It kept the cabins exactly as Aeroflot had designed them, with 28 business class suites, 24 premium economy seats and 264 economy seats.
The first one landed in Delhi on December 23, 2023. It started on domestic routes in January 2024, beginning with Bengaluru to Mumbai, and its first international route, to Dubai, followed in May.
The Face of the "New Air India"
Timing is what made these planes matter so much. The Tata Group took control of Air India in January 2022 after decades of government ownership, and the airline spent the next two years trying to shake off its reputation for tired cabins and broken seats. In August 2023, it unveiled a new logo called the Vista and a new red, purple and gold livery.
The A350 was the first plane to wear that new look. It was also the first time travelers could see the "new Air India" for themselves, with business class suites that have sliding doors and every seat on board facing a personal screen. For a brand that had mostly been making promises, these jets were the proof.
Air India's A350 business class from Delhi to Mumbai. Credit: Zach Benitez / Contrail
I flew the A350's business class from Delhi to Mumbai, and it felt like a completely different airline. With the door closed, the suite was private and genuinely premium, and the whole cabin looked modern and well kept. Just as important, everything worked: the seat, the screen and the controls all did what they were supposed to. That might sound like a low bar, but it's exactly what legacy Air India was known for getting wrong.
A Small Fleet Carrying a Big Job
The catch is that six planes can't change an airline on their own. Much of Air India's long-haul flying still happens on older Boeing 777s and 787s, many with dated cabins. Air India has committed more than $400 million to refit them, but the program ran behind schedule. The first refitted 787 wasn't unveiled until April 2026, and the airline expects to finish the 787s in 2027, with the 777s after that.
That left the ex-Aeroflot A350s doing far more than their share of the work. For a long stretch, they were where the new Air India actually lived, and booking one was the best way to get the experience the airline was advertising.
Air India's A350 economy cabin and a butter chicken meal. Credit: Zach Benitez / Contrail
Economy was just as big a change. On the A350 out of New York, my seat was comfortable, clean and fully working, which is a huge step up from the stained, barely functioning seats I'd come to expect from Air India's older planes. The screen worked, the cabin felt fresh, and for the first time, flying Air India economy felt like a choice rather than a compromise.
A Lucky Break
There's something a little ironic about it. Planes ordered by Russia's flag carrier ended up launching one of the biggest airline turnarounds in Asia. Air India has dozens more A350s on order, so these six were only ever meant to be the beginning.
Still, they were the first impression, and first impressions stick. Whatever Air India becomes over the next few years, a handful of jets built for someone else is what showed travelers it was serious.
