Summary
- Air India expands its UK network with a new Bengaluru-London Gatwick service.
- The carrier joins British Airways and Virgin Atlantic between London and Bengaluru this year.
- Air India will now have 54 weekly UK flights.
Air India will begin another UK route: from Bengaluru to London Gatwick. It effectively replaces its offering from Karnataka’s capital to London Heathrow, which ran until 2022. However, it is much more significant now, as London will have three airlines operating to/from the Indian city for the first time.
Supplementing Air India and British Airways’ daily service from Heathrow will be Virgin Atlantic, with its daily Heathrow operation beginning on March 31. In 2023, booking data shows that Bengaluru-London had an estimated 206,000 point-to-point passengers (564 daily), down from 219,000 in 2019. BA and Virgin do, of course, carry many transit passengers over Heathrow.
Air India to begin fifth Gatwick route
Air India joined London Gatwick’s portfolio in 2023, effectively replacing London Stansted as the Star Alliance’s airport for secondary Indian routes. Higher-demanded and high-yielding routes from Delhi and Mumbai go to Heathrow.
Photo: Media_works | Shutterstock
Served 5 weekly, the 4,991-mile (8,033 km) route is due to begin on April 1 (no joke), although it is not bookable when writing. It will use the 256-seat Boeing 787-8, Air India’s primary widebody, with aircraft originating and ending in Delhi. The schedule is as follows, with all times local:
- Bengaluru to Gatwick: AI177, 14:05-20:05
- Gatwick to Bengaluru: AI178, 21:35-11:50+1
Photo: Anand Balaji | Shutterstock
It is Air India’s ninth UK route
The Indian flag carrier plans 54 weekly UK flights this summer, its highest on record. Showing just how far things have developed in the past few years, OAG shows that it had ‘only’ 34 weekly flights in summer 2019. However, it is notable that Manchester – among India’s largest unserved international markets – still has no flights by Air India.
- Delhi to Heathrow: 17 weekly
- Mumbai to Heathrow: 2 daily
- Gatwick to Bengaluru: 5 weekly
- Birmingham to Amritsar: 3 weekly
- Birmingham to Delhi: 3 weekly
- Gatwick to Ahmedabad: 3 weekly
- Gatwick to Amritsar: 3 weekly
- Gatwick to Goa: 3 weekly
- Gatwick to Kochi: 3 weekly
Image: GCMap
Air Peace is coming to Gatwick
Nigeria’s Air Peace is set to begin a 5 weekly Lagos-Gatwick service from the end of March. It is lunacy for the airline to announce the route six weeks before the first flight takes off, leaving little time to drive awareness and sales – especially with a pretty high frequency and using the Boeing 777-200ER.
Photo: Air Peace
As the carrier has repeatedly cut routes and changed other long-haul services very quickly, I suspect Gatwick flights will be reduced soon after being introduced. It will be fascinating to see if it begins and, if it does, how it develops. The enormous P2P market – 580,000 London passengers last year (1,589 daily) – is just one consideration.
Gatwick has gained many airlines
Benefiting from Heathrow’s dire slot shortage, airlines’ desire to expand, and Gatwick’s lower fees and charges, the West Sussex airport’s list of new and returning carriers is extraordinary. Several operators (like Saudia) continue to serve Heathrow, while others have switched to Gatwick, and some are new to London or the UK.
Photo: Gatwick Airport
As of February 19 and subject to change, the list includes the following airlines. The trick now is to keep them.
- Air China (2023, having served Gatwick until 2020)
- Air India (2023)
- Air Lveria (2024); from Georgia, if it happens
- Air Mauritius (2023)
- Air Peace (2024)
- Atlantic Airways (2024, last served in 2013)
- Azerbaijan Airlines (2024)
- Azores Airlines (2024)
- China Southern (2023)
- Delta (2022, last served in 2012)
- Ethiopian Airlines (2023, last served in 2006)
- Lufthansa (2023, last served in 2016)
- ITA Airways (2024)
- Saudia (2023)
- Singapore Airlines (2024)
- Sky Alps (2024)
- Sky Express (2023)
- Volotea (2023)
It is not all good news. Among other developments, Aer Lingus is ending Gatwick flights in March to consolidate at Heathrow. It began flying to Gatwick in 2007, with the airline’s history at the airport including a short-lived base with 14 routes.
Second To Ryanair: A Look At Aer Lingus’ Changing Ireland-UK Network
With Gatwick exiting its network, Aer Lingus will have 19 Republic of Ireland-UK routes.
What other UK routes do you hope Air India adds? Let us know in the comment section.
