Flew the BLR-BOM route on Air India's new A350: My average experience

Check in experience was good. Staff was courteous and was happily welcoming the guests. And this is exactly where the good part ends.

BHPian sameer_vwagner recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Have to jot down my experience on the inaugural BLR - BOM Air India Airbus A350 flight. I have this habit of taking the inaugural flights as they provide a good peek into what we can expect from the airline.

I have been fortunate enough to take Vistara's DEL - BOM; DEL - IXL and AMD - BOM inaugural services and they did not disappoint one bit. Since Vistara too is backed by Tatas, I was expecting the Air India service to be great.

Check in experience was good. Staff was courteous and was happily welcoming the guests. And this is exactly where the good part ends.

There was a cake cutting done by the staff and the cake was distributed amongst the passengers but it was more of "take and get lost" than being warm.

Boarding was a bit confused but still ok.

Aircraft interiors are amazing, there is no debating that at all and I cursed myself for booking on economy and not on Premium / Business.

The meal service, which is the heart and soul of Air India flights started when we were somewhere over Satara (which is super late). It was hurried and the staff was keen on taking a no from people then serving them. Mind you AI staff will keep checking if you need anything - that way they are really good but this one was extremely lukewarm and sometimes indifferent.

Unlike with Vistara DEL - BOM, there was no water cannon salute for the aircraft at BOM and this was a bit of a let down.

Am leaving you all with some pictures from the flight.

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