Air India Announced Additional Flights Between Dubai and Delhi, Mumbai Starting April 29

Air India, a Tata Group-owned full-service carrier on Wednesday announced an increase in the number of daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Dubai. The move comes as a part of Air India and Air India Express’s (AIX) network alignment process.

Air India has increased the frequency to up to ten daily flights between Delhi and Dubai, including a new flight beginning on April 29, 2023.

Increased Frequency on Mumbai-Dubai Route

Between Mumbai and Dubai, Air India now operates up to six daily flights in both directions. This means eight flights a day each way to Dubai from the cities for most of the week.

Air India has also introduced its twin-aisle Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on the majority of its daily flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Dubai. The aircraft has 18 fully-flat beds in business class and 238 seats in economy class. The remaining flights are operated by Airbus A320/321 aircraft.

Network Alignment Strategy

“This optimization of Air India’s flight schedule for Dubai is part of the ongoing network alignment between Air India and Air India Express, achieving synergy by densifying presence on the more commercially viable routes and reducing frequencies on overlapping routes,” Air India said in a statement.

Notably, the Tata Group took control of Air India and Air India Express in January last year.

Changes to Core Sectors on Dubai-India Routes

Air India Express, the low-cost carrier of Air India, will primarily fly to Tier-2 cities such as Goa, Indore, and Kozhikode, while Air India will prioritise expanding operations to Indian metropolitan cities such as Mumbai and Delhi while reducing operations at smaller airports and on routes that overlap.

Eid Al Fitr Holidays

During the Eid Al Fitr holidays, airfares between the UAE and India dropped unexpectedly due to new flights by Air India Express and Go Air that added capacity to this route in a timely manner.

Current economy class return rates for travel from May 11 to May 18 range from Dh695 to Dh1,102, depending on the sector. Prices skyrocket after June 16, reaching a high of Dh1,235-Dh2,612 during the busiest summer travel period.