Summary
- Air India has received approval from India’s aviation regulator for engineering line maintenance of the Airbus A350 and A320 aircraft.
- The airline has been preparing its engineering team and other staff, including pilots and cabin crew, for the A350 aircraft.
- Air India recently made changes to its Airbus order, increasing the variety of A350-900 variants.
As Air India gets able to welcome the Airbus A350 into its fleet, it has also received approval for engineering line maintenance of the aircraft from India’s aviation regulator, the DGCA. The airline has ordered dozens of A350 from Airbus and can use them for its ambitious international growth.
Nod for maintenance received
India’s aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has given Air India approval for engineering line maintenance of the Airbus A350 and A320 aircraft. Air India will soon start operating the A350 planes, and this clearance will help make its transition into its fleet and subsequent operations much smoother. S.K. Dash, Chief Technical Officer, Air India, commented,
Photo: Air India
Air India is ensuring that it’s well-equipped to handle all of the essential maintenance and repair needs of the A350 plane before it formally starts operations and has been prepping its engineering team for it.
In truth, engineering teams of Air India, together with those of Vistara and Air India Express, visited the Airbus Toulouse center for training purposes. The airline added,
Preparing for the A350
Preparation to launch Air India’s A350 flights is in full swing. The airline has been busy getting several teams, including pilots, cabin crew, and engineers, to familiarize themselves with the aircraft. Air India placed an enormous aircraft order comprising 470 aircraft from each Boeing and Airbus in February this yr. Out of those, Airbus bagged an order for 250 planes, including 40 A350s.
Initially, Air India wanted all 40 of those planes to be the A350-100 variants. However it agreed to get six -900 variants as those were initially meant for Russian airline Aeroflot and were up for grabs immediately. Recently, Air India made changes to its original Airbus order and upped the variety of the -900 variant, splitting the A350 order in the center with 20 each of the -1000 and -900.
Several of the corporate’s pilots have undergone training for the A350, and plenty of more will likely be trained within the months to return. Air India has also decided to amass equipment for in-house training at its own training academy.
Photo: Air India
Air India is the primary Indian carrier to have the A350 in its fleet. The airline will likely conduct several preparatory short-haul flights before launching full-blown international flights. Once the crew is sufficiently familiarized with the aircraft, Air India will deploy it on its overseas route.
More A350-900s And A321s: Air India Makes Changes To Its Massive Airbus Order
The airline’s revised Airbus order looks quite different now.
It stays to be seen which destinations will likely be served by the primary few A350s in Air India’s fleet. But given its range and economics, North America must be on top of the list.
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