Air India launches non-stop flight from Amritsar to London Gatwick

Air India, India’s leading airline and a Star Alliance member, launched its first-ever non-stop flight to London Gatwick, from Amritsar today. It has now become the first and only Indian airline to operate at Gatwick Airport— the second-largest airport in the UK.

The services to Gatwick are in line with Air India’s ongoing endeavour of enhancing connectivity between India’s major cities and leading global destinations to provide more choices to its passengers. Equipped with 18 Business class seats featuring fully-flat beds and 238 Economy class seats, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner will be operating three flights a week on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday from Amritsar. In addition to the flights from Amritsar, Air India will operate 9 other weekly flights scheduled from Ahmedabad, Goa, and Kochi—making it a total of 12 weekly flights to Gatwick.

These operations will reaffirm Air India's operations, presence, and network in the UK. In total, the airline now operates 49 flights in the UK per week— 43 flights to London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and six flights to Birmingham. Air India also operates 31 weekly flights to Heathrow, London from Delhi and Mumbai.

Indian Civil Aviation minister , Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, General (Retd) V.K. Singh, and BJP National Secretary, Punjab, Mr. Tarun Chugh graced the virtual inauguration ceremony of the flight. They flagged it off along with Mr. Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Civil Aviation, and Air India CEO & MD Campbell Wilson.

“It is a historic day for Amritsar and Punjab. This new connection will bring a new impetus to the state and provide key connectivity with the UK, bringing people closer. This will also boost trade and tourism and open up new employment opportunities,” Minister Scindia said on the occassion.