iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
To bolster its international footprint, Air India, on September 30 announced 20 additional flights every week to San Francisco, Birmingham, and London. This is part of the airline’s ongoing endeavor to reclaim its position as a leader on the international aviation map.
Air India officials said that the additional flights to these 3 global destinations will be introduced in a phased manner from October to December this year. Air India will offer over 5,000 additional seats every week and ample choice in terms of connectivity, convenience, and cabin space.
Along with six 6 additional flights to San Francisco, Air India will also introduce 5 additional flights a week to Birmingham, and 9 to London. This will boost Air India’s current schedule of 34 flights every week to the UK will now go up to 48 flights.
Air India will now have three flights every week connecting Mumbai to San Francisco and it plans to reinstate a three-times-weekly Bengaluru-San Francisco operation. This takes Air India’s San Francisco offering from 10 to 16 weekly, with non-stop service from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Flights from India to the United States will increase from 34 to 40 per week.
Birmingham will get five extra flights per week, three from Delhi and two additional from Amritsar. London will receive nine additional weekly flights, of which, five are from Mumbai, three from Delhi, and one from Ahmedabad.
Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India, said, “As Air India reinvents itself under the Vihaan.AI transformation program, adding frequency and improving connectivity from major Indian cities to more international destinations is a significant focus. This sizeable frequency increase to the US and the UK, as well as the addition of new city pairs and improved aircraft cabin interiors, comes just 10 months after Air India’s acquisition by the Tata Group. It is a clear signal of our intent, and an early step towards a much bigger aspiration.”
Founded by the legendary JRD Tata, Air India pioneered India’s aviation sector. Since its first flight on October 15, 1932, Air India has established an extensive domestic network and has spread its wings beyond to become a major international airline with a network across the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Far-East, South-East Asia, Australia, and the Gulf.
Air India is a member of Star Alliance, the largest global airline consortium. After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022. The present management at Air India is driving the five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI to establish itself as a world-class global airline.
In addition to leasing new aircraft, Air India has been working to restore existing narrow-body and wide-body aircraft to the operating fleet. Prior to the expansion described above, the airline has already enabled frequency increases between Delhi and Vancouver as well as the addition of numerous domestic services.