For the next portion of my Iceland to The Residence via Cambodia trip, it was time to fly Air India’s Airbus A350-900 business class on the 9hr10min flight from London (LHR) to Delhi (DEL). I can’t even say how excited I was about this flight — Air India has obviously been trying to reinvent itself since being privatized several years ago, but it has been a very slow process. My long haul flight was operated by one of the carrier’s new A350s, which the airline is very proud of. I was familiar with the hard product (since I had flown it on Turkish Airlines), but I was curious about the soft product, given all the investments that Air India is making. So I’m happy to report that this was a really stellar flight, and Air India sure has come a long way when it comes to amenities, food, drinks, and service, all of which I thought were excellent. If Air India could consistently deliver at this level, then I think the Gulf carriers should be worried, because there’s no reason for Indian travelers to connect in terms of product quality. I booked my Air India business class ticket using Air Canada Aeroplan points, as part of a larger itinerary. Specifically, I booked the following for 80,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $398.23 in taxes & fees: 10/31 AI112 London to Delhi departing 1:00PM arriving 4:00AM (+1 day) 11/01 AI2384 Delhi to Kuala Lumpur departing 1:30PM arriving 9:40PM Unfortunately the cash component was so expensive because of the steep UK Air Passenger Duty. That’s because this ticket was technically originating in the UK, even though I had only arrived from Iceland a few hours earlier, in Icelandair’s A321LR Saga Class. However, since these were separate tickets, I was on the hook for that expense. Air India operates out of Terminal 2 at London Heathrow. While the airline doesn’t have a dedicated lounge, you’re spoiled for choice in terms of which lounges you can use. In line with Star Alliance lounge access policies, you can use the Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, or United lounges, all of which are quite good. I won’t be reviewing any of those lounges this time around since my layover was fairly short. My flight was delayed a little bit in advance — due to avoiding Pakistani airspace, the inbound flight took longer than scheduled. So while departure was initially scheduled for 1PM, it was delayed by a little over an hour, until 2:05PM. At around 12:30PM, I watched the inbound aircraft arrive, as I’d be flying on the two-year old A350 with the registration code VT-JRE. This was my first time seeing Air India’s new livery in person, and I’m a fan! Okay, it’s not the most original livery on earth, but I think it’s a massive improvement over the old one, and feels a lot more modern. Air India Airbus A350 London Heathrow arrival Air India Airbus A350 London Heathrow gate My flight was departing from gate B36, and boarding ended up starting at 1:30PM, with wheelchair passengers and business class customers being invited to board first. Air India A350 departure gate London Heathrow I boarded through the forward left door, where I was greeted by the exceptionally friendly crew, and pointed right into business class. Let me start by saying that while this is an excellent product and beautiful cabin, it wasn’t actually designed for Air India. That’s because this A350 was initially intended for Aeroflot, but due to sanctions, Aeroflot couldn’t take delivery of several of these planes. So you’ll find some of