While nothing has been officially announced, and while this has been rumored for some time, it appears that Air India is moving closer to launching service to at least two new destinations in the United States.
Continue reading: Air India Plans Dallas & Los Angeles Flights
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Air India used to fly to LAX via Frankfurt. LA has a diaspora of around 231,000 Indian Americans.
I just flew DEL-LHR this morning with the new A350 hard and soft product. Incredible. Air India is honestly on a par with the gulf carriers now, and the bedding is exceptionally comfortable (mattress cover in particular). I woke up after 8 hours with 35 mins to landing, and they still offered full breakfast service if I wanted it.
If Air India offered that on all flights, I would fly them by preference. I would definitely choose them over BA and Virgin for Delhi flights. In don't know if they've introduced the same soft product on their 777s. Definitely if they had the old Etihad seat, with that soft product, it would be very acceptable.
Worth a review Ben.
What's gonna happen first on those new flights, diverting to Russia or a scorpion coming out of nowhere?
Chennai is one of the largest sources of international traffic even beating out BLR. It's limited only by its poor infrastructure and management otherwise they would be a lot more foreign Airlines willing to fly into Chennai. Many of The travelers to and from Chennai will still be using the Middle Eastern Airlines since there are no direct flights from Chennai to the US on Air India. Darrinder has effectively neglected Chennai as a non stop destination. Very few people want to change Planes in Delhi. I personally would rather change in DXB or DOH or HKG.
Air India is honestly on a par with the gulf carriers now
For that route on that day, sure; but the entire airline quickly falls back to the same operation it was before under any complexity: maintenance is still subpar, the DEL connection experience is underwhelming compared to the ME3 hubs, lounges remain subpar, and IRROPS is still just as common.
Correction: AI does NOT have any 777 from Singapore Airlines, and likely never will. The original plan to lease three SQ 777s to AI (presumably 9V-SWD/SWE/SWF) has failed, and indeed 9V-SWE has now been scrapped, with 9V-SWD/SWF as well as SWN removed from the roster as well. As such, AI’s leased 777s are either -200LRs from Delta (VT-AEE–AEI) or -300ERs from Etihad (VT-AEM–AER).
Then again, with SQ investing prominently in AI, you never know what else it might do with its fleet — not unlike Qatar and Oman Air or the erstwhile Air Italy!
Air India & media have been teasing these routes for well over a year now (over 7 if you count their initial wave of expansions in 2017). Just start the damn flights already.
True - I only flex A350, both BLR-DEL and DEL-LHR. The Air India lounge in BLR is spectacular (as is the whole terminal at BLR). Table service, gorgeous decor. As good as the Qatar lounge at LHR for example. Air India have no lounge right now in DEL and the Prive shared lounge is v crowded at 1am (but a good lounge). I can't comment on IRROPS. Both my flights were on time.
Maybe you're right that underneath it they can't sustain this level of service. But v impressive to see them trying (and succeeding) based on my experience this week.
I have tended to avoid Air India based on last flying them 4 years ago (it wasn't bad, but not good either). This time, I was v impressed and their fares tend to be good.
Agree with what you have to say about the BLR experience & AI’s work there… the new terminal and new lounge are impressive. Wish they’d put a bit more of what they have in BLR to DEL though given it’s their hub
Why doesn't the CEO of the airline consider Atlanta. Atlanta would be a great destination for Air India as there is a significant huge population of that particular group of people in and around the metro area.
International travel doesn't only mean South Asia and Middle East. Why do you think Air France, KLM, Lufthansa have direct flights to BLR rather MAA ? Business Class travel is important for Airlines to sustain and hence MAA is neglected often. DFW is already 15 hrs from DEL. It will take 2 more hrs for MAA which is not feasible with current aircrafts unless they are premium heavy.
I would love to see more flights to Bombay or Madras. But nice to see AI expanding, nevertheless. Still, I think it will still take time for them to be a truly world class airline. Their hit and miss product, combined with their spotty reliability, means that change won't be imminent for some time.
Delta flew Atlanta to Mumbai, and wasn't able to make it work. What would Air India do differently, other than trying Delhi?
You may need a time machine for flights to Bombay or Madras, but Mumbai will definitely see service increases once NMIA opens up next year. The airport is at maximum capacity (indeed, its operating above capacity at many times of day) so the reliever airport will be much appreciated. Chennai on the other hand will continue to be a miserable experience as long as it is operated by sarkari AAI rather than one of the private consortia who have transformed the airport infrastructure elsewhere.
If I actually lived in Chennai, I'd go out of my way to avoid flying international from there simply because of the horrendous experience. I have an international flight out from there later this year and I'm already dreading it.
Oh man DEL to DFW feels like printing money to me. Hope this works out for Air India
Great! Dallas and LA residents can look forward to flying dirty filthy planes and being stranded somewhere the US doesn't even have diplomatic relations with for days!
No need to make a big deal about the names. To many of us, names like Bombay (or Bambai, as many call it), Madras, Calcutta, Bangalore, etc. always remain close
I know so many people who fly ME airlines to India just to avoid DEL..they say QR, EK, etc. can get them to MAD, BOM, etc. without the hassle of having to retrieve their baggage in DEL, etc. Besides DEL, BOM and the SFO-BLR flight, not sure if the market can support Indian cities to USofA.
Have you been to the new terminal (2) yet? It's not BLR quality (that was a stunning airport), but it is FAR better than the T4 of old. Also, the people are much much better in Chennai than Delhi; even though Delhi is a pretty airport, I dread going through there each time because the airport staff sucks. Never had a positive experience with it.