AI to increase summer capacity by 10%

The ailing national carrier Air India has decided to increase the domestic capacity by 10 per cent from March 29 to tap the summer rush, besides introducing in-flight entertainment on the metro routes, according to a senior airline official.

"We will also be offering an additional 10 per cent capacity on our domestic network through a greater utilisation of the Airbus A320 aircraft fleet," the airline source told PTI here today.

"The airline will also deploy A321s and A319s fitted with IFE on the metro routes in our summer schedule," the source added.

As a part of its capacity enhancement during the summer schedule, Air India will also operate five flights between Delhi and Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata as well as four daily services between Delhi and Hyderabad for the summer schedule.

Three daily flights between Delhi and Patna are also in the offing, the source said.

Air India is also planning to introduce new direct flights between Delhi and Dehradun, Coimbatore, Kozhikode and Mangalore with a CRJ aircraft (Canadian regional commercial aircraft), the source said.

"In addition, we will reintroduce services to Seoul by extending the existing Delhi-Hong Kong flight to Seoul four times a week from August," source said.