Air India has announced the launch of nonstop flights to Amsterdam, becoming the first Indian airline to directly connect Delhi to the Dutch capital.
1. Increasing connectivity
Amsterdam will be the 8th continental European city served by Air India, and the fourth European destination that the airline has connected from Delhi in the last four months. It takes the airline’s frequency of non-stop flights between India and Europe to 77 per week, offering passengers greater flexibility and convenience.
“With the launch of this new non-stop flight to Amsterdam, Air India adds further breadth to our long-haul network and more options for our customers. Together with the three other European routes started in recent months, and others to come, it supports our objective of establishing Delhi as a significant international hub”, Air India’s CEEO Campbell Wilson commented on the launch of the new route.
The flight will operate with a two-class Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) starting 11 June 2023, bookings having already opened. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner accommodates 256 passengers across Business Class (18 seats with fully flat beds) and Economy Class (238 seats).
Flight AI155 will depart from Delhi at 13:10 (local time) and arrive in Amsterdam at 18:35 (local time), while the return flight from Amsterdam, AI 156, will take off at 20:45 (local time) to arrive in Delhi at 08:10 (local time).
2. Growing demand
Over the past few months, the airline has reactivated several nonstop routes to Europe that were suspended during the pandemic, including to Copenhagen, Vienna and Milan. Additionally, as part of its expansion plans, Air India signed in February a historic deal with Airbus and Boeing to acquire 250 planes from Airbus and 220 from Boeing to meet the expected growth of the huge Indian market. This giant deal represents a shifting moment for the airline, which currently operates a fleet of only 115 aircraft and has not purchased new planes since 2006.
By 2050, India is estimated to have almost 1.7 billion people. Its economy is poised to expand the fastest among the G20 nations, and a growing middle class is expected to spend more on air travel. As a result, passenger traffic in India will grow fast, including on the long-range markets in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
