Air India Unveils Five-Year Plan To Optimise International Routes With Delhi Hub

Air India is working on a five-year transformation plan that will lead to significant changes to its international flight schedule and the types of aircraft used on certain routes.

According to the airline's press release, Air India will deploy its "best aircraft" to key gateways in Southeast Asia and Europe, complementing the deployment of its flagship A350 and B777 with upgraded cabin interiors on multiple US and UK routes earlier.

As part of the makeover, the airline will deploy retrofitted A320neo aircraft, erstwhile Vistara's A321neo and B787-9 planes on certain international routes.

The retrofitted A320neo will be deployed on all flights between Delhi and Bangkok from Jan. 16, 2025. The airline will also begin operating a fourth daily service between the cities from Jan. 1, 2025. It will also redo the interiors of these planes across the various classes.

According to the airline, the new service will lead to evenly spaced departures to and from Bangkok throughout the day. The increased frequency will help travellers from Bangkok to several destinations in North America and Europe.

The makeover also involves the optimisation of flight schedules of the Tata Group-owned airline from Delhi to Paris and Frankfurt. This optimisation will result in greater flexibility for travellers, as they will get daytime as well as nighttime departures on each route in both directions.

As a result of the new timings on its daily flights on the Delhi-Sydney and Delhi-Melbourne routes, the airline is able to offer seamless two-way connectivity between Europe and Australia or points in Southeast Asia via Delhi.

Currently, Air India operates B787-9s on the Delhi-Frankfurt and Mumbai-Frankfurt routes.

From Jan. 1, 2025, the airline will begin two daily flights between Mumbai and Singapore, where it will deploy A321neos.

On the same day, the company will deploy B787-9s for a daily Delhi-Singapore flight, as well as A321neos for two daily flights on the route.

(With inputs from PTI.)