Air India on Monday launched "Easy Connect" flights from Ahmedabad, extending its hub-and-spoke connectivity model to Gujarat and offering passengers seamless transfers to 26 international destinations via New Delhi, the airline said in a press release.

The move makes Ahmedabad the third Indian city, after Amritsar and Varanasi, to be added to Air India's Easy Connect network, which is designed to route more international travellers through Indian airports rather than foreign transit hubs, according to the airline.

Under the programme, international travellers departing from Ahmedabad can complete through check-in to their final destination, clear immigration at Ahmedabad airport, and transfer through Delhi without rechecking baggage or changing terminals, Air India said.

Two daily flights from Ahmedabad to Delhi have been designated as Easy Connect services. Flight AI1121 departs Ahmedabad at 8:15 PM and arrives in Delhi at 10:00 PM, a service that began September 1. Flight AI1117 departs Ahmedabad at 8:25 AM and arrives in Delhi at 10:15 AM, starting September 2, the airline said.

Together, the two flights offer onward connections to 26 destinations within four hours of landing in Delhi, spanning the United States, Canada, Britain, Europe, Australia, the Asia-Pacific region, Southeast Asia and the Gulf. The morning flight connects to cities including Shanghai, Dubai, Paris, London, Frankfurt and Kuala Lumpur, while the evening flight connects to destinations such as Singapore, Bangkok, Toronto, Sydney and London, according to Air India.

The airline said it will soon begin inbound Easy Connect operations, allowing international passengers to transfer through Delhi onward to Ahmedabad.

Speaking at the launch event, India's civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said the expansion of hub-and-spoke operations to Ahmedabad would help ensure "the benefits of air connectivity reach every region of the country," according to the press release.

P. Balaji, Air India's group head of governance, risk, compliance, and corporate affairs, said Ahmedabad was home to "one of the largest globally connected communities of Indians," and that the new services would simplify international travel for passengers from Gujarat, the airline said.

The event was also attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, and senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Gujarat government, and Adani Airport Holdings Limited, according to Air India.

The airline said it plans a phased nationwide rollout that will connect more domestic cities to its primary hubs in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, with additional Easy Connect services from other Indian cities to begin in the coming weeks.

Citing government data, Air India said close to 20 million of the nearly 25 million passengers who travel long-haul to and from India each year are connecting travellers, and about 85 percent of them, roughly 17 million passengers, currently transit through foreign hubs rather than Indian airports. The Easy Connect initiative aims to shift a greater share of that traffic to Indian airports, the airline said.

Passengers using Easy Connect flights are required to enrol in DigiYatra if they hold Indian passports, and web check-in and customs declaration are not available at the spoke airports, Air India said. Bookings are open through the airline's website, mobile app, contact centre and travel agents.

Source: PR