Increasing its international footprint, Air India has launched new non-stop flights from India to six destinations in the USA and Europe. The Tata owned carrier has launched flights from Mumbai and Delhi. From Mumbai, the new flights are launched to New York, Paris and Frankfurt whereas Air India will directly fly to Copenhagen, Milan and Vienna from Delhi.
CNBC-TV18 had earlier reported how Air India is grappling with a workforce shortage as it expands its wings in international skies. Air India needs around 200 senior pilots to operate the 20 new weekly flights it has announced for Birmingham, London and San Francisco and is looking to overcome the shortfall by onboarding foreign pilots.
Air India has trained about 200 crew since the Tata Group took over, but they haven't been deployed yet due to unavailability of necessary documents like the US visa.
This new announcement comes after earlier on November 19, Air India's chief executive Campbell Wilson said at a Tata corporate event in Mumbai that his airline is in talks with Boeing and Airbus for ordering new aircraft and is meeting its immediate needs by leasing planes.
Wilson also added that the Tata owned airline planned to expand its global network, aiming at 30 percent market share on both domestic and international routes over the next five years.
Taking a big move, Tata Sons had reportedly started the process to bring all its airline entities — Vistara, Air India Express and AirAsia India under Air India, that would result in airline becoming the second-largest airline in the country in terms of fleet and market share.
A few days ago, Air India Express announced two new international services from Thiruvananthapuram to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, commencing new flights from December 1 and November 30 respectively.
First Published: Nov 23, 2022 1:08 PM IST
