The airline has launched a dedicated campaign called ‘Via’, targeting UK travellers to raise awareness of the destinations they can easily reach with a couple of hours pitstop in India.
For example, one of Air India’s offerings involves a flight departing from London Heathrow (LHR) at 8:45 am. arrives in Delhi (DEL) at 10:25 pm , with a brief layover of 2.5-hour, it departs for Sydney (SYD) at 12.55 am, landing in Sydney at 7 pm. The total journey time, including the layover, is approximately 23 hours and 15 minutes.
This is competitive with other global carriers like Emirates, British Airways, Etihad, and Cathay Pacific, which connect London to Sydney with varying layover durations in cities like Dubai, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong, with total travel times ranging from 21:25 to 22:50 hours.
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Additionally, Air India is optimising its connectivity between the UK and Southeast Asia. For instance, its London to Singapore service departs at 9.05 pm from Heathrow, arriving in Delhi at 10.55 AM the following day. After a 2.5-hour layover, passengers can continue to Singapore, arriving at 9.45 pm local time.
The total travel time from London to Singapore is 17 hours and 15 minutes, which is competitive, but slightly longer than direct British Airways flights, Singapore Airlines, or Qantas, which offer non-stop options with a flight time of approximately 13 hours.
Through these improvements, Air India is positioning itself as a competitive choice for foreign travellers by making Delhi a hub to connect different foreign destinations.
