Summary
- Air India has 23% of all India-Europe non-stop flights
- The carrier has 77 weekly European services in September
- It serves nine European destinations, but its network has shrunk versus 2019
Air India has more non-stop India-Europe flights than any other carrier. However, given so many European operators serve the vast country, it has fewer than one in four services – a proportion that has been reducing. Moreover, between January and May 2023, Air India was the fourth-largest operator by passengers – the first three being Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways. All Middle East carriers combined had around 40% of the India-Europe market.
Air India's Europe flights: up 5%
According to Cirium data, India's flag carrier has 77 weekly non-stop Europe flights in September (double for both ways). That is by 5% over the 73 it had in pre-pandemic 2019. Until now, Air India had expected seats to rise by only 2% to 19,712 weekly due to exclusively using the lower gauge 787-8. However, the 777-300ER will again be used to London Heathrow, increasing seats for sale.
Air India has Europe routes from six Indian airports, as summarized below. Obviously, most departures (48 of the 77 weekly) are from its Delhi hub:
Airport | Weekly flights in September* | European destination (weekly flights) |
|---|---|---|
Delhi | 48 | London Heathrow (17), Frankfurt (seven), Paris CDG (seven), Amsterdam (four), Milan (four), Birmingham (three), Copenhagen (three), Vienna (three) |
Mumbai | 14 | London Heathrow |
Amritsar | Six | Birmingham (three), London Gatwick (three) |
Ahmedabad | Three | London Gatwick |
Kochi | Three | London Gatwick |
Goa | Three | London Gatwick |
* Each day. Double for both ways |
Where's up and down?
Air India will continue to serve nine European airports in September. The following figure indicates how weekly flights have changed per destination versus 2019. As the carrier did not serve London Gatwick until March 2023, it is full airport-level growth. The same is true of Amsterdam, which rejoined its network in June 2023 after more than 25 years.
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Of already-served airports, only London Heathrow has more flights than it did. Always Air India's top European destination, services have risen from 28 weekly in 2019 to 31 now.
While not a significant increase, it is from Mumbai growing to double daily and Delhi being 17 weekly instead of double daily before COVID. However, non-core Ahmedabad has shifted to lower-cost Gatwick, while Air India ended Bengaluru to London (and to Europe generally).
Where has been cut?
Comparing Air India's present Europe network to 2019 reveals that it no longer serves London Stansted (replaced by Gatwick), Madrid, Rome, or Stockholm. (It also served Moscow during the pandemic.) Rome and Stockholm are Star Alliance hubs. Excluding Stansted, will any return?
Where would you like Air India to fly next in Europe? Let us know in the comments.
Sources of information: Cirium, booking data, Google Flights.