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Air India’s low-cost arm Air India Express Ltd (AIEL) plans to launch four-times-a-week flight from Delhi to Tehran from early next year.
Shyam Sundar, Chief Executive of the airlines, said the flight is expected to be launched in March-April next year. The airline is also looking at a tie-up with Air India so that passengers have the option of taking domestic flights from Delhi to Goa, which is a popular tourist destination among Iranians. The flight is also likely to appeal to Iranian students, many of whom are studying in Pune, Sundar added.
Separately, Air India is expected to write to Exim Bank US informing it of the airline’s decision to operate the Tehran flight. The AI Express aircraft are financed through a loan from Exim Bank and informing the bank is required as Iran was under global sanctions till recently.
AIEL, which operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, also plans to launch four-times-a week flight between Kolkata and Singapore from November 18. The flight will offer passengers from Singapore the option of flying from Singapore to Dhaka via Kolkata as the airline will launch a Kolkata-Dhaka return flight, Sundar said.
The Air India group is looking to launch the new flights to enhance its international footprint.
As part of this initiative, Air India plans to launch a Delhi-Birmingham-Toronto flight and a service linking Delhi-Cochin-Dubai. Both these flights are expected to be operated with a Boeing 787 aircraft and are expected to start in February.
In addition, a flight linking Chandigarh-Singapore-Bangkok is also proposed from March.
Incidentally, Air India operated a flight on the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto route which was later withdrawn.
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