Tag Air India

GURUGRAM, 6th September 2024: Air India, India’s leading global airline, today announced it has successfully implemented the integration of New Distribution Capability (NDC), becoming the first Indian airline to go live with latest technology in airline distribution.

Air India has adopted the latest 21.3 schema of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), transforming the way its products are retailed to travel agents, travel corporations, leisure and business travellers, and other travel resellers. The adoption of NDC allows for more personalised and efficient interactions between Air India and its travel partners, enhancing the overall booking and travel experience.

NDC is a travel industry-supported program launched by IATA for the development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard. NDC enhances the way airline products are retailed in various channels. For Air India’s travel partners, this means access to a wider variety of offers and services, such as tailored flight packages and ancillary products, available in real-time. Customers can expect a more streamlined booking process with greater transparency and access to the best deals across all sales channels.

“Implementing NDC is a significant milestone for Air India as we continue to innovate and enhance our distribution strategy. Our goal is to provide a seamless and efficient booking experience for our travel partners and customers,” said Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India.

NDC enhances the capability of communications between Air India and travel agents, and enables Air India to present tailored offers, ancillary products and services, and pricing options in real time to travel sellers worldwide.

Travel agents around the world can connect directly to Air India’s NDC and get access to a richer and more diverse set of content, including NDC exclusive offers, ancillary services, and fare families, which were previously not available through traditional distribution channels. This will enhance the overall booking and travel experience for their clients.

Air India’s customers will benefit from a more seamless, transparent booking process – both online and offline. This ensures that customers also get the best possible deals and options available.

13-August-2024, National: Air India Express has launched six new daily direct flights in a single day, further strengthening its domestic network. The new flights operate on the Chennai-Bhubaneswar, Chennai-Bagdogra, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata-Varanasi, Kolkata-Guwahati, and Guwahati-Jaipur sectors.

Five of these routes are new to the airline’s growing network. The newly introduced Guwahati-Jaipur flight is an exclusive route, served by Air India Express. To meet the increasing demand on the Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram route, previously served with two weekly flights, the airline has now introduced an additional daily service, bringing the total to nine flights a week.

Air India Express Operations:

From/To Chennai: Air India Express now connects Chennai directly to 10 destinations, including Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram domestically, and Dammam, Kuwait, and Singapore internationally. Additionally, the airline offers convenient one-stop connectivity to 24 destinations, both domestic and international.

From/To Bhubaneswar: With this expansion, Air India Express now provides direct connectivity from Bhubaneswar to seven domestic destinations, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune. The airline also offers 26 one-stop itineraries to a variety of other destinations.

From/To Bagdogra: Air India Express connects Bagdogra directly to five domestic destinations, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, and offers access to 26 one-stop destinations, both domestic and international.

From/To Kolkata: Kolkata is the third largest station for Air India Express, operating 124 weekly flights to 34 destinations, including 12 direct domestic destinations and various one-stop destinations.

From/To Thiruvananthapuram: Air India Express offers 12 direct flights connecting Thiruvananthapuram to domestic and international destinations and connects the city to 23 one-stop destinations.

From/To Guwahati: Air India Express connects Guwahati with eight domestic destinations and 23 one-stop destinations, including both domestic and international.

From/To Varanasi: With 42 weekly departures, Air India Express connects Varanasi directly to three domestic destinations and one international destination. The airline also provides convenient one-stop itineraries to several other domestic and international destinations.

From/To Jaipur: Air India Express offers nine direct flights connecting Jaipur to domestic destinations and one international destination. The airline also connects Jaipur to 24 one-stop destinations, both domestic and international.

29-July-2024: Air India Express announces the expansion of its network to Tripura, introducing daily direct flights connecting Agartala to Guwahati/Delhi and Kolkata. The operations on these routes will commence on 1st September 2024 and the flights are now open for booking on the airline’s award-winning mobile app and website, airindiaexpress.com, and other major booking channels.

Commenting on the launch, Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express, said, “We are delighted to announce Agartala, Tripura, as our 46th destination, further expanding our footprint in the North-East after Guwahati, Bagdogra, and Imphal, enhancing our national network. This strategic addition underscores our commitment to connecting tier 2 and 3 cities of India and promoting economic growth, trade, and tourism across the country. Aligned with our core value proposition of ‘Fly As You Are,’ we remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering an unparalleled guest experience distinguished by our signature Indian hospitality.”

With this expansion, Air India Express now connects Agartala to two direct destinations and eight one-stop destinations, including Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur and Chennai, via 14 weekly departures.

Air India Express operates 77 weekly flights from Guwahati, connecting it to eight direct destinations: Agartala, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, and Kolkata. Additionally, the airline offers one-stop itineraries from Guwahati to 20 domestic destinations, including Ayodhya, Goa, Gwalior, Kozhikode, and Pune, among others, and to four international destinations: Bahrain, Dammam, Singapore, and Sharjah.

From Kolkata, Air India Express has 124 weekly departures, connecting 12 direct destinations like Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru, Kochi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Bagdogra, Jaipur, Chennai, Surat, and Varanasi. The airlines also connect the City of Joy to 22 one-stop destinations, including Abu Dhabi, Kozhikode, Kannur, Doha, Dubai, Lucknow, Kuwait, Thiruvananthapuram, Gwalior, among others.

Loyalty members booking on the airline’s website and mobile app get additional rewards and benefits, including exclusive discounts and special deals, up to 8% NeuCoins, and complimentary Xpress Ahead priority check-in, boarding and baggage services. In addition to loyalty members, students, senior citizens, SMEs, and dependents and members of the Indian armed forces can also get special fares and benefits on airindiaexpress.com. Guests can also book special cabin baggage only fares, Xpress Lite, available on the airline’s website.

GURUGRAM / NEW YORK, 23 July 2024: Air India announced its flagship A350-900 aircraft will operate Delhi-New York JFK flights from November 1, 2024, and Delhi-Newark flights from January 2, 2025, thus transforming its passenger experience on these strategically important routes.

Introducing Premium Economy on the key routes

The A350 deployment will introduce Air India’s Premium Economy class experience for the first time on the Delhi-New York JFK and Delhi-Newark routes. It will offer guests the choice of 24 wide seats arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration in a dedicated, upscale cabin that offers extra legroom and other enhancements.

Other cabins and latest signature experiences

Air India’s A350 aircraft feature 28 private suites in Business class with full-flat beds in a 1-2-1 configuration, and 264 spacious Economy seats arranged in a 3-4-3 configuration. Each suite in Business provides direct aisle access, sliding privacy doors, and a personal wardrobe. All seats across cabins on the A350 come with the latest-generation Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment (IFE) system and HD screens that offer more than 2,200 hours of entertainment content from around the world.

The A350 flights will also feature the airline’s new signature soft products and award-winning guest enhancements unveiled earlier this year. These include new chinaware, new tableware and glassware, new bedding, and updated amenity kits for Business and Premium Economy guests, exclusively designed by Ferragamo and TUMI, respectively.

Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India, said: “We are encouraged by the positive guest feedback we have received from the domestic deployment of our A350s to offer our hero product on the Delhi-New York JFK and Delhi-Newark routes. This is a significant leap forward for our U.S. operations that also underscores our commitment to continuous improvement.”

“The new seats, new inflight entertainment systems, and new soft products will together provide our guests with great comfort and service that are representative of the new Air India. We believe this enhanced offering will solidify Air India’s position as a leading carrier and attract travelers seeking a world-class flying experience between India and the United States.”

Upgraded cabin interiors on other U.S. routes

With deployment of the A350, 60% of all Air India flights to the U.S. will feature new or upgraded cabin interiors.

Over the last few months, Air India has been progressively replacing its legacy aircraft with newer ones on other U.S. routes, as part of its continued effort to offer guests a significantly improved flying experience. These aircraft feature upgraded seats and inflight entertainment systems.

The airline now operates its three class-configured Boeing 777-200LR on all non-stop flights between India (Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru) and San Francisco with upgraded cabin interiors, except a 3x weekly Delhi-San Francisco service. Each of these aircraft features 28 private suites with full-flat beds in Business, 48 wide seats in Premium Economy with extra legroom, and 212 seats in
Economy as well as updated IFE systems. This allows Air India to consistently offer Premium Economy options to travelers taking non-stop flights to/from San Francisco.

Air India also operates a three-class-configured Boeing 777-300ER on all flights from Mumbai to New York JFK and Newark, featuring 8 luxurious First class suites, 40 full-flat beds in Business, 280 seats in Economy, and updated IFE systems.

Air India’s orders for A350 and the aircraft in commercial service

Air India has taken delivery of six A350-900 aircraft since the beginning of 2024, having thus far deployed the aircraft in service on flights within India and on the Delhi-Dubai route for regulatory compliance as well as crew familiarisation purposes. From September 1, 2024, Air India will start flying its A350-900 to London Heathrow from Delhi. Air India has 34 other A350s on order with
Airbus, including 20 A350-1000s.

Air India’s U.S. presence

Air India currently flies to five points in the United States, namely New York JFK, Newark, Washington DC, Chicago, and San Francisco. The airline operates 51x weekly flights to the United States from India.

OXFORD/GURUGRAM, 17 JULY 2024: Air India, India’s leading global airline, has announced an exclusive new partnership with The Bicester Collection, a family of immersive luxury destinations, for the airline’s recently redesigned Flying Returns loyalty programme. The partnership offers Flying Returns reward points on shopping and dining experiences at The Bicester Collection’s nine open-air luxury shopping Villages in Western Europe.

Flying Returns members can now collect 5 Points for every GBP 4 or EUR 4 spent at any of The Bicester Collection’s Villages in Europe conveniently located an hour or less from the major cities London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Munich, Brussels, Dublin, Madrid, and Barcelona. To earn Reward Points, members simply need to present their Air India Flying Returns digital membership card along with their receipts at Concierge Services in the Villages.

The Bicester Collection’s Villages are home to a unique curation of iconic global and European fashion and lifestyle brands offering exceptional savings all year round, alongside five-star hospitality and services, making them havens for discerning travellers and shoppers alike.

Sunil Suresh, Head of Marketing, Loyalty & E-commerce, Air India said, “This partnership aligns perfectly with our ongoing efforts to make the ‘reimagined’ Flying Returns a more robust and faster rewarding programme. Adding The Bicester Collection to our rapidly growing network of ‘earn’ partners, we’re offering our loyal guests even more opportunities to accumulate points for the experiences they value.”

“The demand for luxury shopping among Indians continues to boom at record pace, with Indians now being counted amongst the highest spenders during their travels across the world. We’re also equally excited to offer the benefits of this collaboration to our growing base of loyal guests across Europe, to whom we now offer many new ways of collecting Flying Returns points beyond just taking flights to and within India”, Suresh added.

Laurent Vinay, Chief Brand and Communication Officer, The Bicester Collection said, “We are delighted to launch a partnership with Air India. We look forward to serving new guests from India with this collaboration. Indeed, this partnership will create new opportunities for customer acquisition for us both. Air India aims to provide unparalleled Indian hospitality and customised service and so shares The Bicester Collection’s values of providing its clientele with an elevated experience: this partnership is based on a shared brand ethos. Air India is by far the most well-connected carrier in India with flights to every European country where The Bicester Collection has a Village. And so together we can create wonderful experiences for our customers, making lasting and meaningful memories for all our guests.”

This announcement marks the latest step in the airline’s continuing effort to transform Flying Returns and comes as the airline enters a new phase of its ongoing five-year transformation journey.

In April this year, Air India overhauled Flying Returns, introducing a simplified new structure, more customer-friendly features, renamed tiers, and an updated identity for the programme.
The revamped Flying Returns moves away from the legacy model of miles-based collection of points to a more equitable spend-based approach while offering members instant global status and privileges around the world.

Over the last 18 months, Air India has added over 50 partners for Flying Returns to offer greater ease, more rewards, and recognition for its members.

Air India serves Europe with 94x weekly non-stop flights to India from 10 points, namely Amsterdam Schiphol, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa, Paris CDG, Vienna, and Zurich. As it continues to grow its global footprint, Air India has been scaling up its European operations, having inaugurated flights to Zurich last week and with additional flights to Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Milan taking off from this month.