DELHI- Tata Group-owned Air India (AI) has announced significant changes to its Washington DC (IAD)-Delhi (DEL) nonstop flight service, enhancing its offerings on this monopoly route.
Effective October 29, the airline will increase flight frequency from four to five weekly departures, responding to growing demand.
Air India Washington Flight Update
In a notable equipment upgrade, Air India will deploy the Boeing 777-200LR on this route starting November 15, 2024, replacing the currently used Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner comes with a total of 256 seats which includes 18 flatbed Business Class seats in 2-2-2 configuration and 238 economy seats in standard 3-3-3 configuration.
While, Boeing 777-200LR has 238 seats, 18 lower seats compared to 787-8. However, it comes with three class configurations with eight flatbed First Class seats in 1-2-1 arrangement, 35 angle-flat Business Class seats in 2-3-2 arrangement and 195 standards economy seats in 3-3-3 configuration.
Overall, the more comfortable journey with more options.
AI DEL-IAD Flight Schedule
Now, as per the latest schedule, the Gurugram-based carrier operates 4x weekly flights on DEL-IAD route and they are as follows:
- Flight AI103 departs from Delhi International Airport (DEL) at 01:55 AM and after being airborne for around 14 hours and 30 minutes, it lands at Washington Dulles (IAD) next day at 7:15 AM.
- The return flight departs from IAD at 11:15 AM (a decent turnaround time of four hours) and arrives in DEL next day at 11:00 AM.
Note: All times mentioned above are local timings.
The distance of 12,080 KM (7506 Miles) and flight time of around 15 hours make it the 6th longest flight route from India. You can check complete list here: Top 10 Longest Non-stop Flights of India in 2024.
Recent data revealed by Behramjee Ghadially, airline route network expert suggests strong passenger demand for India-Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) routes. Over the past 12 months, round-trip passenger numbers for key Indian cities were:
- Delhi (DEL): 91,000 passengers
- Hyderabad (HYD): 82,000 passengers
- Mumbai (BOM): 56,000 passengers
- Bengaluru (BLR): 38,000 passengers
- Chennai (MAA): 37,000 passengers
- Ahmedabad (AMD): 27,000 passengers
- Kochi (COK): 14,000 passengers
Air India also has an opportunity to target the Washington-Ho Chi Minh City (IAD-SGN) market aggressively. The airline offers the fastest connection via Delhi in both directions, with a total round-trip demand of 53,000 passengers over the last 12 months.
Additional high-demand connecting markets from Washington DC include:
- Bangkok (BKK): 40,000 passengers
- Kathmandu (KTM): 21,000 passengers
Other Notable Route Updates
Following the strong transfer demand on IAD-SGN route via DEL, Air India is adding one more weekly flight i.e. it will operate 7x weekly flights this winter from current 6x weekly flights.
Also, the low-cost arm of Air India Group, the successfully united Air India Express (IX) will likely start new flights to Kathmandu (KTM) and Colombo (CMB), reported The Indian Aviation Guy on X. Both these destinations are served by Air India.
Furthermore, Air India Express is set to expand its middle east capacity with new slots to Abu Dhabi (AUH) from DEL and Ahmedabad (AMD). Subsequently AI Express will also add flights from DEL to Jeddah (JED).
Also, AI Express plans to add new flights to Dammam (DMM) from Mumbai (BOM), Hyderabad (HYD), Kochi (COK) and Trivandrum (TRV).
Air India also boosted its UK network with more flights to London Gatwick (LGW) and Birmingham (BHX).
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