Aviation and Airlines (Commonwealth Union) _ Air India is significantly expanding its services on three US routes, effective November 21st, marking a notable increase in frequency. The carrier will operate 50 weekly India-US departing flights during the upcoming northern winter, a substantial rise from 33 in winter 2019 and 39 last winter. Although there are rumors of further expansions, this remains unconfirmed.
The growth is particularly evident on the Delhi to San Francisco and Washington Dulles routes, both reaching record-breaking frequencies. This surge in services is timed just ahead of the peak season, highlighting Air India’s strategic planning.
Delhi to San Francisco and Washington Dulles will experience an unprecedented number of Air India flights. The Delhi-San Francisco route, covering a distance of 7,706 miles (12,402 km), is notably long but doesn’t rank among the world’s five longest non-stop services. The additional flights are facilitated by available equipment, potentially freed up due to the cancellation of the Amsterdam route this winter.
The breakdown of Air India’s 50 weekly services includes 11 flights on Delhi-San Francisco, daily services on Delhi-Chicago and Delhi-New York JFK, four weekly flights on Delhi-Newark and Delhi-Washington Dulles, as well as Mumbai-New York JFK and Mumbai-San Francisco, each operating four times a week. Bengaluru-San Francisco and Mumbai-Newark each have three weekly flights.
Looking at July 2023 data from the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Air India carried 18,516 passengers on the Delhi-San Francisco-Delhi route with a seat load factor (SLF) of 81.9%. While this route had the highest total passengers, its SLF was slightly lower than the US average (86.7%). The analysis of booking data suggests that over 60% of passengers were point-to-point, which tends to be higher-yielding, indicating a potentially sustainable model for this extended route.
