The first direct air link between India and Australia would be established by Air India when it launches non-stop flights from Delhi to Melbourne by October-November this year.
Using the plush integrated Terminal-3 (T3) at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here as its new hub, the national carrier also plans to launch non-stop flights to Toronto and Chicago from the winter schedule this year, airline officials said.
Air India has its international hub at Frankfurt like Jet Airways’ in Brussels.
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The services to Melbourne, Chicago and Toronto are likely to be launched from the winter schedule which begins in October, they said, adding that the service to Seoul would also be resumed during that period.
The new flights would be part of the airline’s overall restructuring and revamping process which is being monitored closely by the government. An additional equity infusion of Rs 1,200 crore being planned by the government this year would depend on the success of this process.
With the commencement of services to Melbourne and Chicago and resumption of flights to Seoul, Air India would be serving a total of 22 international destinations from its new hub in the capital.
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The destinations would be New York, Chicago, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Kathmandu and Kabul.
These international flights from the T3 hub would be connected with several domestic destinations as a ‘hub and spoke’ service. This would enable a passenger, flying in from an Indian city, to easily cross over to the international departure area of the integrated terminal T3 for a seamless transfer to the connecting flight abroad.
“Successful operation of T3 requires a flawless integration of international and domestic operations so as to provide passengers with a seamless, integrated experience when they choose Air India over its competitors,” an official said.