Air India Boosts UK Connectivity With New London Gatwick Flights

Air India has expanded its reach within the UK by starting new services to its second-largest airport – London Gatwick. While a bulk of its UK flights are still to Heathrow, it now connects four Indian cities to Gatwick as it looks to enhance its international network as part of its transformation plan.

Hello, Gatwick!

Air India has further enhanced its UK presence by launching four new services from London Gatwick to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Kochi, and Goa, switching them from London Heathrow, and flying on each route three times a week.

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Flights to Ahmedabad and Amritsar started on March 26th, with services to Kochi starting the next day. The Gatwick-Goa service will commence on March 28th. From London Heathrow, Air India is also adding five additional weekly frequencies, with flights to Delhi increasing from 14 to 17 times a week, and to Mumbai from 12 to 14 times a week, effective as of March 26th. Air India estimates that nearly 500 jobs are likely to be created in the UK due to fleet expansion and new services. Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD of Air India, commented,

“As part of our five-year transformation plan, Vihaan.AI, we plan to significantly enhance connectivity between India’s major cities and prime global destinations and be acknowledged as India’s Flying Ambassador to the world. These flights will also fulfil the growing demand for direct air connectivity from various important destinations in India to the UK and from the UK to these popular cities in India.”

Photo: Boeing

Boeing 777 will be back in Heathrow

For years now, Air India has kept its Boeing 777 fleet primarily for US operations. With the exception of Washington, D.C, Air India deploys its Dreamliners to Europe, Australia, and also to the Middle East.

But the airline has announced that it plans to upgrade its equipment on its London Heathrow to Delhi and Mumbai routes with Boeing 777 aircraft, expected to be added from May 2023, initially on the Delhi route. This will enable first class service to be reinstated for passengers to the UK.

Photo: Carlos Yudica / Shutterstock

Air India’s total flights to the UK now stand at 49. The carrier will have three flights a week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from Amritsar as well as nine other weekly flights scheduled from Ahmedabad, Goa, and Kochi—making it a total of 12 weekly flights to Gatwick. These also include 31 weekly flights to Heathrow, London from Delhi and Mumbai, and six flights to Birmingham.

Growing fast

The Tata Group hasn’t wasted much time enhancing Air India’s international offering. It has brought back to service many of the carrier’s grounded fleet as well as added more widebodies in recent months.

Apart from adding more flights to the US from Mumbai and Bengaluru, it now operates 80 flights per week to seven major cities in the UK and Europe after relaunching flights to some prime destinations such as Milan, Vienna, and Copenhagen.

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