en.Wedoany.com Reported - Air India has launched its first 'Easy Connect' flight under the Indian government's new hub-and-spoke framework. The inaugural service, flight AI1111, departed from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi at 9:23 AM recently, transiting through Delhi to nine international destinations including Dubai, Colombo, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kathmandu, and Phuket.
India's Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu inaugurated the first flight at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi. He stated that this model will transform how Indians travel, enabling passengers to begin their international journeys from their hometowns. As the first airline to launch hub-and-spoke services, Air India is leading the nationwide rollout. In addition to Varanasi, the service will gradually connect cities such as Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Vadodara, and Visakhapatnam, transiting through hubs in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
Air India's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson noted that nearly 25 million Indians undertake long-haul international trips annually, with nearly 20 million being transit passengers, of which approximately 85% (about 17 million) currently transit through overseas hubs. He said the new service aims to allow travelers to begin their international journeys from their hometowns, avoiding transit in unfamiliar overseas environments. Passengers on 'Easy Connect' flights are required to complete pre-departure and transit procedures, including Indian citizens registering for DigiYatra and uploading boarding passes; online check-in and customs declaration services are not available at spoke airports.
Air India Express has announced the launch of direct flights from Guwahati to Dubai and Guwahati to Abu Dhabi, becoming the first airline to connect Northeast India with West Asia. The services commenced on August 4 and August 7. As the gateway to Northeast India, Guwahati is one of the largest stations in the Air India Express network, with approximately 120 flights per week. The launch of direct services marks the airline's first international operations in Guwahati, providing passengers with access to the UAE. Currently, Air India Express operates over 290 flights per week across four stations in the Northeast (Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, and Imphal).
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