Air India on Wednesday announced prioritising the deployment of the best narrowbody aircraft on five key metro routes from December. The airline said Vistara A320-series aircraft would be deployed for flights from Delhi to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, and from Mumbai to Hyderabad and Bengaluru with business, premium economy, and economy class seats. Air India and Vistara merger was completed on November 12.
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Air India chief executive officer and managing director Campbell Wilson said the merger of Vistara into Air India has unlocked many new opportunities to improve customer offering. “By combining the strengths of both full-service carriers, we are able to consolidate our best narrowbody offering on routes where there is a desire for a high-frequency and full-service product.”
Wilson said the airline will progressively expand the coverage to more routes as Air India inducts new aircraft and completes the retrofit of legacy narrowbody fleet in 2025.
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The airline said such flights will operate with AI-prefixed four-digit flight numbers beginning with 2, such as AI2999 from Delhi to Mumbai. “Air India will also optimise flight schedules so that flight departures are spread out throughout the day, without reducing the frequency,” an airline spokesperson said.
Air India operates over 1,000 weekly flights (round trips) on metro routes. They include 56 daily Delhi-Mumbai, 36 Delhi-Bengaluru, 24 Delhi-Hyderabad, 22 Mumbai-Bengaluru, and 18 Mumbai-Hyderabad flights.
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Air India’s aircraft on the five metro-metro routes have eight seats in business class, each offering 41 inches of pitch, seven inches of recline, leg rest, and footrest. They have 24 extra legroom seats in a dedicated, upscale premium economy class. Each seat offers 33 inches of pitch and four inches of recline. There are 132 comfortable seats in economy with 29 inches of standard pitch in the cabin and three inches of recline, the airline said.
The airline said that the optimised domestic route network would be progressively available for booking channels including Air India’s website, mobile app, and through authorised travel agents and partners. “Air India will continue to operate one widebody flight each between Delhi and Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad using its Boeing 777 or Airbus A350 aircraft, which will have ‘AI’-prefixed three-digit flight numbers,” the Air India spokesperson said.
