Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Thai, American airlines join list of carriers announcing services to India. Why the rush?

As the March 27 resumption of scheduled international flights approaches, more foreign airlines have started ramping up their plans for India. A look at some of the international routes on which flights are being added and its impact.

Passengers exit from the arrivals gate of the international terminal of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International airport, Ahmedabad. (Express Photo: Nirmal Harindran)

More foreign airlines have announced addition and re-introduction of flights to India in the run-up to the March 27 resumption of scheduled international services here. Dubai-based Emirates, which is the biggest foreign carrier to operate to India, said it would reinstate its pre-pandemic frequencies.

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Which international routes are being added?

Emirates said it would reinstate its 170 weekly flights to Indian airports from Dubai effective April 1. The airline said it will be operating 35 weekly flights from Mumbai, 28 from Delhi, 24 from Bengaluru, 21 each from Chennai and Hyderabad, 14 from Kochi, 11 from Kolkata, nine from Ahmedabad and seven from Thiruvananthapuram.

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The UK-based Virgin Atlantic announced a new second daily service to Delhi from London starting June 1. The airline already operates one daily flight on the Delhi-London sector, and one on the Mumbai-London sector.

Thailand’s national carrier Thai Airways is also planning to operate 35 flights every week between India and Thailand during summer 2022.

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American Airlines said it was looking to expand its services to India and planned to launch its Seattle-Bengaluru flight later this year.

Finnair, which already operates on the Delhi-Helsinki route, will add three weekly flights between Mumbai and Helsinki.

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German carrier Lufthansa announced that it is resuming direct flights between Chennai and Frankfurt thrice every week effective April 29.

Dutch airline KLM said it will respond to the resumption of scheduled international flights from India by increasing its frequencies to Delhi and Mumbai. The airline flies to India from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Poland’s LOT Polish Airlines will commence passenger flights from Warsaw to Mumbai from May 31, and resume flights on the Delhi-Warsaw sector effective March 29.

Malaysia Airlines, the country’s national carrier, will resume 25 weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to several Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad from March 27.

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Why are airlines announcing these services?

Given that scheduled international flights had been suspended since 2020, overseas air connectivity was made possible through air bubble agreements under which airlines could mount only a limited number of flights. However, with the resumption of scheduled flights, carriers will now be able to operate at capacity in accordance with the original air service agreements negotiated between India and their home country.

What could be the impact of resumption of flights?

Prior to the pandemic, a total of 4,700 international flight departures were being operated every week from Indian airports. However, under the air bubble pacts, this number had been restricted to around 2,000 weekly flights and this had an impact on the airfares on international routes. Industry experts believe that the resumption of international scheduled flights could result in some relief in terms of airfares as airlines add capacity ahead of the summer vacation season.

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