Air India inaugurated its new 4x weekly non-stop service to Rome Fiumicino, touching down at the Italian capital city after nearly six years and thus, expanding its presence in Mainland Europe. Rome is Air India’s eighth gateway in Mainland Europe and the second destination in Italy, after Milan. This leaves Air India our of Madrid and Stockholm, the two destinations where Air India has not returned since the pandemic. The airline also made changes to airports in the London area, vacating Stansted and operating from Gatwick, but there has been an overall increase in the flights to London. Italy remains an important partner for India across trade, tourism and cultural exchange. Bilateral trade between the two countries surpassed USD 14 billion in 2025, supported by strong collaboration in sectors like engineering, automative, fashion and design. Italy is also home to one of the largest Indian communities in continental Europe, with more than 200,000 people of Indian origin contributing to steadily growing travel demand between the two countries, read the press release from the airline.
Air India now operates between Delhi and Rome four times a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays – using its B787-8 aircraft. The aircraft features a two-class cabin configuration with 18 fully flat beds in Business Class and 241 spacious seats in Economy Class, offering guests a comfortable flying experience complemented by Air India’s signature warm Indian hospitality and onboard service.
The flight schedule has been designed to enable convenient connections via Delhi to several destinations across India and Southeast Asia, including but not limited to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. This enables travellers from Italy to easily access Air India’s growing international and domestic network.
| SCHEDULE OF FLIGHTS BETWEEN DELHI (DEL) AND ROME (FCO) | |||
| Flight # | City Pair | Departure | Arrival |
| AI123 | Delhi-Rome | 1315 Hrs | 1855 Hrs |
| AI122 | Rome-Delhi | 2050Hrs | 0900 Hrs+1 |
| All times local. +1 indicates next calendar day arrival. | |||
Air India now flies non-stop from India to eight points in Mainland Europe, namely Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich.
A look at the map generated with the help of GCMAP shows how Air India’s European operations look like. The lines hide more than what they show. With the airspace over Pakistan not available, there is a longer route that needs to be taken from Delhi, as well as most other points. With the current challenges over the Middle East, the routing becomes even longer.
Network Thoughts
Air India has a significant presence in Europe, but still has a long way to go to match its middle eastern peers. As more widebody aircraft get inducted, the logical next steps would be to introduce more frequencies on sectors which are not yet daily, followed by introduction of another frequency from India, most likely from Mumbai. This gives the airline the opportunity to start developing Mumbai as a second hub with full force with domestic passengers routed via Mumbai, while Delhi’s current international hub status gets stronger with more frequencies on offer.
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