Air India Launches First Direct Flight From Ahmedabad To London

National carrier Air India on Tuesday (15 December) launched a direct flight from Ahmedabad to London. Air India already operates four frequencies to London - three from Delhi and one from Mumbai.

With the commencement of this flight, Air India became the first airline to offer direct flight between Ahmedabad and London.

"The inaugural flight 'AI-131' will take off from Ahmedabad at 4.30 am (on Tuesday) and will arrive at Mumbai at 5.45 am. From Mumbai it will take off at 7.05 am and land at London at 11.30 am on that day," said Air India executive director, Corporate Affairs, Anil Mehta.

The flight, AI 131, a Boeing-787 Dreamliner aircraft took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport with 247 passengers.

“Today is an auspicious day. I would like to congratulate who are travelling for the first time from this flight and staff of Air India,” Saurabh Patel, Tourism Minister of Gujarat said.

On return journey, AI-130 will leave London at 13:30 pm and reach Mumbai at 04:00 am next day.

Sanjeev Chhajer, vice-president, Cox and Kings, said “This is a great initiative by Air India. There will be tremendous growth in passenger traffic from this flight.”

The flight will not only be beneficial for leisure travelers, but many corporate will also benefit hugely with the direct flight from Ahmedabad.

“This flight has given great connectivity to corporate travelers and we wish all the best to Air India”, said Suresh B V, ?executive vice-president, Cadila Pharmaceuticals.

This will be the fifth flight as Air India already operates four frequencies to London; three from Delhi and one from Mumbai.

The daily flight is likely to hugely benefit the 1.5 million Indian living in Britain. Catering to the strong demand of more than 6 lakh Indians from the state of Gujarat, the passengers travelling by the direct flight will not need to change aircraft at Mumbai, said the airline