IndiGo and Air India expand UK flights amid Keir Starmer’s visit

New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) Low-cost carrier IndiGo airlines on Thursday announced it will increase non-stop flights to Manchester from November 15, while Air India announced the addition of a fourth daily service from Delhi to London (Heathrow) from October 26.

Both airlines made announcements of enhancing air connectivity between India and the United Kingdom, amid British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s two-day visit to India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had reiterated their commitment to improving connectivity and enhancing cooperation in the aviation sector. Both countries are discussing the renewal of India-UK Air Services Agreement, along with other aviation related matters.

IndiGo said it will increase its Delhi-Manchester service from four to five weekly flights, starting November 15. The Mumbai-Manchester frequency will be increased from three to four weekly flights from November 17, the airline added.

This represents a further increase of 28 per cent in non-stop capacity between India and Manchester. These routes will be operated using IndiGo’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

Further, a new daily Mumbai-London (Heathrow) service will be launched on October 26.

Meanwhile, the additional flight increases Air India’s frequency from 24 weekly flights to 28 weekly flights this winter, adding 1,196 seats each way per week between Delhi and London (Heathrow). All Air India flights on the high-demand route are operated by the airline’s new Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 787-9 aircraft, the airlines informed.

Air India informed that it operates 61 weekly flights between India and the UK and deploying 18,066 seats per week in one direction, which translates to nearly 1.7 million seats annually on routes between the two countries. Air India connects Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Amritsar to UK’s London (Heathrow), London (Gatwick), and Birmingham.

–IANS

aar/na