Air India has moved to boost its international network with the addition of new services to the USA and Europe.
The carrier will launch a daily non-stop service on the Mumbai-New York route from 14 February 2023 using Boeing 777-200LRs, says the carrier. In September, Air India said it would lease five 777-200LRs, with the aircraft entering service from late 2022.
The service, which will operate to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, adds to Air India’s existing daily service from Delhi, and its four-times-weekly service to Newark.
The new services take Air India’s direct India-US frequencies to 47 non-stop flights weekly.
In addition, the carrier will resume services connecting Delhi with Copenhagen, Milan, and Vienna during the first quarter of 2023. New services are also planned for Paris and Frankfurt. The new European services will be operated with Boeing 787-8s.
Following the resumption of these services, Air India will have 79 weekly stops to Europe, of which 48 will be to the United Kingdom, and 31 to Continental Europe.
“A key element of our five-year transformation plan, Vihaan.AI, is to strengthen India’s global network, connecting India’s major cities with even more destinations,” says carrier chief executive Campbell Wilson.
“The introduction of these new non-stop flights to New York, Milan, Vienna, Copenhagen, Paris and Frankfurt, is another step in that journey, which will accelerate as our aircraft fleet expands. We look forward to welcoming guests and sharing Air India’s warm Indian hospitality with them.”
Separately, Indian media recently quoted Wilson as saying that Air India is in discussions with Airbus and Boeing about a potential “historic” aircraft order.
Cirium fleets data indicates that Air India has an in-service fleet of 100 aircraft, with 20 aircraft in storage.
While the carrier has 27 relatively new A320neos and orders for four more, it also operates 43 older A320 family narrowbodies. Overall, the average age of its narrowbody fleet is 9.9 years.
The mainstay of Air India’s widebody fleet are 27 787-8s with an average age of 8.3 years, 15 777-300ERs with an average age of 11.9 years, and the five 777-200LRs with an average age of 13.7 years.
