Is Air India Planning Big American Expansion?

Rumours are swirling that Air India is planning a huge expansion into North America as it continues to receive its new Airbus A350 aircraft.  The new routes that are being planned include Seattle, Los Angeles and Dallas.

The new routes should be in place for this year and if they go ahead all of this additional capacity will mean cheap India flights for those travelling from Canada to India as well!

The new flights will have add-ons from Canada and as many Vancouverites are already driving to Seattle and flying to India this will be an additional option.

From Vancouver or Surrey, the drive to Seattle can be done in as little as 2.5 hours.  With so many already using Seattle as a gateway to India the addition of a direct flight from Seattle to New Delhi will add to the growing numbers of options from that city.  The aggressive expansion plans of Air India should continue to have the impact of lowering prices in many cities all around the world.  Also because many travellers connect when flying to India any new capacity will help lower prices for those looking to find a cheap flight to India!

Passengers departing from Toronto to New Delhi in early Spring and late Winter of 2024 received some great news over the past 7 days.  The Delta Airlines group has once again decided to heavily discount some of their flights in March.  Flights are now available for as low as $1640 which is a massive reduction on what was available only last week.  As Air India is taking significant traffic from the Toronto market they have had to respond to the lower price of Delta Airlines with their flights now available from only $2400.  While the direct flight is considerably more than the connecting flight on Delta Airlines, Air India might be forced to drop their price more to compete over the next few weeks.

Customers looking to buy flights from Vancouver are also finding cheap flights to India as the Delta Airlines group has substantially reduced their flight prices.  With traffic early this Spring not up the levels that they would like Air France, KLM and Delta now have prices from Vancouver to Delhi as low as $1530.   We did find prices this low for a short time in December and now they are available again which is great news for those who want a cheap India flight.  Prices on direct Air India flights are much higher right now during the same period with prices starting from $2500.  The fact that large numbers of students continue to fill the flights from India to Canada has made it difficult for low prices on direct flights to be found.

While student traffic continues to raise prices in the short term there will be softening in that area of the market due to the restriction brought in by the Canadian government.  As the new rules will impact new bookings we expect to see more seats available this fall from both Toronto and Vancouver.

The big news of the week is the rumours that Air India is planning a major expansion in North America with additional U.S. gateways hopefully being announced soon.  With new aircraft arriving regularly in 2024 new routes will have to be available for sale in the next few months. The most important to Canadians especially those out West will be the addition of Seattle to New Delhi direct if it makes the list.  Seattle will provide a new opportunity for Vancouverites to secure cheap Indian flights, but any routes coming to North America will help relieve some of the capacity issues from Canada as more seats equal lower prices.

Do you want to read our last India flight update? You can find it here! Don’t forget Bains Travel is your go-to place for any cheap flight to India, an India tour or Sikh Destination Wedding!  If you booked your India flight online you may have paid too much! Remember we have wholesale fares that we cannot advertise online! Travelling from Vancouver, Surrey, Abbotsford, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax or anywhere else in Canada to India we have been doing it longer and better than anyone else!  After almost 75 years in business serving the Indo-Canadian community, we know how to make any vacation the trip of a lifetime!

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