Air India has announced plans to move four existing UK routes from Heathrow to Gatwick airport at the end of March.
Flight from Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kochi will all operate thrice-weekly, served by Air India’s B787-8 aircraft. The full schedules can be seen in the table below.
Moving capacity to Gatwick will allow Air India to add three additional weekly frequencies to its Heathrow-Delhi service from the start of the summer schedules (increasing from 14 to 17 flights per week), and two extra frequencies to its Mumbai-Heathrow route (increasing from 12 to 14 flights per week).
However Business Traveller understands that Air India will also drop its Hyderabad-Heathrow service from the end of March.
Analysis by Alex McWhirter
Today’s news sees Air India transfer several routes from Heathrow to Gatwick.
The routes in question are more for leisure than business travel, and the slots now available at Heathrow will enable Air India to expand services to Delhi and Mumbai.
One minus point with Gatwick is that it’s not so easily accessible for members of the Indian community based in West London or the West Midlands.
And one wonders how the newcomers carriers (for services to India) will fare about which we have reported over the months.
For example, Hans Airways was supposed to launch flights from Birmingham to Amritsar last October but it never happened.
UK-India carrier Hans Airways performs proving and familiarisation flights
Commenting on the news Stewart Wingate, chief executive officer, Gatwick airport, said:
“The arrival of Air India and its four routes to London Gatwick is fantastic news for the airport and passengers across London and the south-east.
“India not only offers wonderful cities and beach destinations to explore but provides a wealth of opportunities for businesses and wider connectivity.
“These connections are also hugely important to our local and regional communities, with people looking to visit family and friends across India.”
