The Tata Group-promoted Air India is expected to add two new international destinations during the summer schedule of 2025, sources told businessLine.
These destinations are Manila in the Philippines and Jakarta in Indonesia, which are slated to be added to the airline’s international network.
“They are awaiting regulatory clearance from the Philippines side. As soon as the clearance comes, Air India can mount flights within a short period of time,” sources told businessline.
“As a destination, the Philippines holds immense potential. The absence of non-stop flights has capped the tourism potential between the two countries.”
As per industry data, last year 12 per cent more arrivals were reported from India to the Philippines on a year-on-year basis. The arrival numbers stood at around 80,000.
Regarding the prospects of the Indonesia route, sources said: “Transit loads will drive the traffic from Indonesia to India. Transits from Indonesia via India will be able to get connections to the Middle East and Europe.”
The airline is expected to deploy its Boeing 787 aircraft on these routes.
As a strategy, Air India is increasing its international flights and destinations. The airline has started new routes, including Mumbai-New York, Mumbai-Melbourne, and Delhi-London.
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Air India recently announced having reduced the connection time for passengers taking flights between Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe via India to an average of two-hours-thirty minutes.
The airline has tweaked its flight schedules for Frankfurt and Paris to offer shorter connections to passengers arriving from these cities and taking onward flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, etc.
Last year, Tata Group-promoted carrier added five new destinations: Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Zurich, Bali, and Mauritius.
Air India’s transit traffic has increased by more than 100% since it was privatised in 2022.
Furthermore, the airline has announced a number of additional frequencies on key routes as part of its northern summer schedule effective from March 30, 2025.
Accordingly, in the United Kingdom, the airline is adding three weekly flights on the Delhi-London Heathrow route, bringing the total to 24 weekly flights.
These flights will be operated by a combination of Air India’s flagship A350-900 and upgraded B787-9 aircraft. Frequencies will be increased on other UK routes as well, including Amritsar-Birmingham, Amritsar-London Gatwick, and Ahmedabad-London Gatwick.
Additionally, the airline will increase weekly flights on the Delhi-Zurich and Delhi-Vienna routes. In Far East Asia, Air India is adding a weekly flight on the Delhi-Seoul route and upgrading its aircraft on the Delhi-Hong Kong route to the B787 Dreamliner.
In addition, the Africa region will see the airline increasing frequencies on the Delhi-Nairobi route.
