Air India has announced its plan to add two additional flights to Dubai from June 1. The new flights will benefit the passengers flying from India as there is a significant scarcity of flights to Dubai after the grounding of Jet Airways. Among the two new flights, one trip will operate from Delhi, and the other will be from Mumbai.
Air India already has two flights to Dubai – a B787 plane from Delhi and an Airbus A320 aircraft from Mumbai. Dubai is one of the most lucrative destinations for any airline. It is well-known for both business as well as leisure travellers.
Air India decision to expand its Dubai operation comes after the Central Government’s announcement about the allocation of international traffic rights. The government had earlier said that it would give priority to Air India while allocating such rights. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had decided to allow about 5,700 weekly seats to Air India, from Jet Airways’ unused quota on India-Dubai route. Besides this, Air India was also promised over 5,000 seats on India-Qatar route, and about 4,600 additional seats to and from London.
Air India currently has a 13.1% market share in the domestic market. It carried 15.19 lakhs passengers in March 2019.
Meanwhile, the national carrier has stopped the India – New York flights due to reduced demand. The direct service to New York was started in December 2018. There were three flights per week to New York. The flying time from India to the US has been increased, owing to the closure of Pakistan Airspace. Air India usually uses Boeing 777-300 to operate flights from New Delhi to Newark, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco.
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