Tata’s Air India starts three Amritsar-London flights in a week

Ushering in changes under the TATA group, Air India has decided to increase the frequency of its direct Amritsar-London Heathrow flight to three flights per week from March 27. Earlier, only one flight was operational. As per the latest update on Air India’s website, AI flight 170 will take off from London Heathrow on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and the flight from Amritsar will depart on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The airline operates a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on this route and the booking of these direct flights is available till the end of October 2022 (end of summer schedule for airlines). Currently, the flights between India and UK are operating under the air bubble set up by India with many countries. Air India is also currently operating one-weekly direct Amritsar-Birmingham flight. In a joint statement, global convener of FlyAmritsar Initiative and overseas secretary of Amritsar Vikas Manch, Sameep Singh Gumtala, and founder chairman of SEVA Trust, UK, Charan Kanwal Singh Sekhon said amid the pandemic and suspension of regular international flights, the increase in frequency of this popular route has brought some good news for the Punjabi diaspora in the UK. “Increase in direct flights will help flyers between Punjab and the UK to travel conveniently in just eight to nine hours, evading long travelling hours on connecting flights via Delhi. This will also give a major boost to the economy of Punjab. Even industry and farmers will benefit from more direct flights to the UK as they will be able to ship cargo as well,” said Gumtala