National carrier Air India is getting six new Boeing dreamliners in 2017 and is planning to start new services to Tel Aviv, Stockholm and African nations to further expand its international operations after registering its first operational profit of Rs 105 crore since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007.
Currently, it flies to 41 international and 69 domestic destinations.
“We are going to connect Tel Aviv, Stockholm and Africa”, said Ashwini Lohani, chairman and managing director of Air India.
“There is still a huge gap between operational and net profit. We are also getting six new dreamliners in 2017,” he added.
From December 1, Air India is going to start its Delhi-Madrid service thrice a week and is also increasing the frequency of its Bangalore-Delhi-San Francisco flight to six days a week. Air India is going to file Guinness for its longest flight and has also planned to deploy all women staff on this route.
The Minister for Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, said that passengers are in favour of Air India.
Jayant Sinha, MoS, Civil Aviation, said, “We will once again restore Air India and we are working on this transformation.”
He also said that Air India and Pawan Hans will have to play an important role in regional connectivity scheme.
The flag carrier on Monday (October 24) launched a new app, iTravel, developed by SITA, for passengers to book, check-in and manage every aspect of their journey from their mobile device.
The new mobile service will be available on Android, iOS and Windows. This means at check-in, passengers can choose to receive their boarding pass on their phone or smartwatch. At the airport, passengers will receive regular updates on their flights and can use the app for mobile boarding.
BW Reporters
Haider Ali Khan is an alumnus of IIMC. He holds a degree in English Journalism from the prestigious campus. His passion includes Aviation, Technology, Politics and Sports.