The Air India will launch a new flight connecting Amritsar with London Stansted on the 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, on October 31. The Boeing 787 aircraft, which will bring thousands of Sikhs to their most important pilgrim city, will also sport an important religious symbol “Ek Onkar” or “God is One” to mark the celebrations.
The 256-seater aircraft will operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. An airline official said London Stansted as its third point of call was due to the unavailability of slots at the Heathrow airport. The distance between the two airports is nearly 105 km.
“Though we launched the flight on a month’s notice, the loads are very good. I look at full flights in the near future,” Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani told The Hindu about the response from travellers.
The menu on these flights will reflect the flavours of Punjab and will include items like Amritsari Kulche, Rajma and rice, among other options.
The Golden Temple, the crown jewel of Sikhism, is located in Amritsar and houses the holy book Guru Granth Sahib. There are direct flights to Amritsar from Birmingham, which has a sizeable population of Sikhs. The flight resumed last year after being suspended for nearly eight years due to lack of profitability. Last month, Air India also launched direct services between Toronto and Amritsar.
An airline official said passengers flying into Amritsar from Canada and the U.K. will also benefit from Air India’s direct services to Patna and Nanded, which are the two other important pilgrim sites for Sikhs out of five. The service to Patna, birth place of the tenth guru of Sikhs — Guru Gobind Singh — was launched on October 27.
