Air India is making changes to its international widebody network starting early next year. This comes after a month of Vistara’s merger with Air India, which added 7 Dreamliners to the combined fleet but with it got along with challenges like overlapping flights, especially to Frankfurt, Paris and partially to London Heathrow. The changes seem to be a work in progress but largely seem effective early February, though always subject to change. The data for this article is from the Air India website booking engine.
This also is the first major rejig to the international network that the airline is doing under the Tata group, which since 2022 was focused on reinstating flights and frequencies to Europe and adding new connections to existing points like Mumbai – Melbourne or to San Francisco from Bengaluru and Mumbai. It also launched short haul flights to Ho Chi Minh City, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur.
Read: Routes & Network: In conversation with IndiGo’s head of Network Planning
While the airline publicly stated that it would continue having the Vistara network, number it separately and operate the same aircraft till early 2025, the changes were swift with the legacy Air India metal replacing Vistara’s Dreamliner to Denpasar, Bali from the day of merger and swaps there after. Air India then made multiple changes to its domestic network to offer five metro sectors on exclusive former Vistara aircraft and space out the flights.
Paris CDG
Air India inherited the Vistara Delhi – Paris and Mumbai – Paris operation with the merger. While Delhi – Paris nearly went hand in hand, Air India has now discontinued the Mumbai – Paris operation.
On the Delhi – Paris – Delhi segment, the Vistara flight has been retimed to leave in the wee hours and reach Paris CDG at 0945 hours. The return flight will leave at 1115 hours and reach at 2330 hours in Delhi. There also is a downgrade of equipment to 787-8, making it a sector without premium economy and standardised since the current operations see one flight with premium economy and a superior product and another without.
Frankfurt
The importance of Frankfurt is definitely higher than Paris for Air India, since it prioritised having both flights with the 787-9 Dreamliner immediately after the merger. The equipment stays but there is a change in timing. One of the two departures would leave Delhi at 0515 hours, reaching Frankfurt at 0945 hours. The return flight departs at 1115 hours local time and lands in Delhi at 2325 hours.
The current deployment of both flights being ex-Vistara aircraft continues for Frankfurt. In addition to flights from Delhi, Frankfurt continues to see ex-Vistara aircraft being deployed for Mumbai – Frankfurt – Mumbai; making it a seamless three class operation for all departures on Air India from Frankfurt.
Why the change to Australia?
The biggest question that comes up amidst these changes is, why make changes to flights to Australia? The answer lies in connections. The existing midday departures allowed connections from the EU to Australia, but the return was mis-connected, since the Australian flights arrived in the evening and a transit passenger will have to wait until the next afternoon for departure to the EU. The new timings will see a quick 90 minute transfit for passengers from Paris and Frankfurt to both Melbourne and Sydney. Passengers transiting from Australia to either Paris or Frankfurt, will have a transit time of 65 to 80 minutes. These are the best connections available in the market as of now for any one-stop flight, be it via Singapore or Dubai. This connection also works well for flights to London – which are now on the A350s from Delhi, giving a premium experience compared to the legacy fleet.
Not every city pair will get a second frequency, but it looks like there is enough data to prove that the flow of traffic between Frankfurt and Paris to Sydney and Melbourne is high and hence the tinkering of flights to Australia. This also speaks volumes about the nature of traffic on the route and the fact that Air India has near monopoly and thus ability to tinker with the timings without being bothered about the market impact for O-D (Origin – Destination) traffic.
Positive impact on revenue
The changed timings and spacing of frequency to Paris and Frankfurt would help with better revenue opportunities. The existing bank which all departed in the afternoon meant that only a select set of flights coming into Delhi by mid-morning were available for connections to EU and likewise from EU. The two banks to Paris and Frankfurt mean that there are more options available to passengers along with streamlining the passenger flow across multiple flights and not just a handful.
This also bodes well for passengers travelling beyond Frankfurt and Paris on codeshare and interline partners, since it opens up multiple options. Lastly, this gives better pricing power to help connect Paris and Frankfurt to Singapore, Australia and Thailand.
Network Thoughts
The change was logical in nature and was expected. To do it mid-season is a challenging task at most global airports and Air India has pulled it off very well. It was never going to make sense to fly back to back on international routes, but it was a network which Air India inherited.
With double daily flights to Paris, Frankfurt; multiple daily to London and timing changes to Australia – the immediate changes are done. Air India will continue to chase slots at London, using all possible means to grab more at Heathrow and if not selectively grow at Gatwick. As and when the slots are available, it would certainly prioritise flights here than starting a new station of increasing frequency to some other routes.
The onus is now on execution. Network and Revenue can only do as much, sustaining that is the responsibility of Airport Operations, Inflight and ground service and co-operation from Delhi airport to handle as many transit passengers at one go.
My eyes will be on some flights that may launch soon in the 1300 – 1430 hours departure bracket from Delhi. The airport is IATA Level 3 airport and has nearly run out of slots even after operationalizing four runways. Since Air India started building a hub around 2012, it has relied on the 1300 – 1400 hour departures to the EU and as things stand this hour may not have any additional movements. Air India has now vacated two, if not more around this time of the day. No airline lets go of a prime slot, it only gets allocated to a new one and which would that be? Your guess is as good as mine.
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