Mumbai, February 16 Air India announced on Monday an increase in flight frequency, as well as the deployment of aircraft with newly renovated or upgraded cabin interiors on key international routes, as part of the 2026 Northern Summer Schedule.
The airline said it will increase the frequency on the Delhi-Toronto route from 7 flights per week to 10 flights, starting March 1, while the frequency of Delhi-Seoul (Incheon) will increase from five flights per week to six flights, starting March 29, and the newly launched Delhi-Shanghai flights will increase from four flights per week to five flights, adding 2,048 seats on each route every month, it said.
The airline said that starting February 14, services on the Delhi-Tokyo (Haneda) route, operated with B787-9 aircraft, will feature a three-class cabin configuration with the addition of premium economy.
This deployment will add 2,408 seats between Delhi and Tokyo (Haneda) every month, Air India said.
According to the airline, flights between Mumbai and London (Heathrow) will operate with a combination of new B787-9 aircraft and retrofitted legacy B787-8 aircraft, both featuring all-new cabin interiors, starting July 1.
These flights will replace the currently deployed B777-300ER on the route, which already have upgraded cabin interiors, and added that daily flights between Delhi and Melbourne will operate with a B777-300ER aircraft featuring upgraded cabin interiors, thus introducing First Class on the route, starting July 1.
The aircraft features eight suites in first class, 40 fully flat beds in business class, and 280 seats in the economy class, adding nearly 4,000 seats every month between Delhi and Melbourne, it said.
Similarly, flights between Bengaluru and London (Heathrow) will operate with the airline's retrofitted B787-8 aircraft, featuring new cabin interiors, thus introducing premium economy on the route, starting August 1. With this, all Air India flights to and from London (Heathrow) will be serviced by aircraft featuring new cabin interiors.
In addition, the seven flights per week on the Delhi-Toronto route will operate with Air India's new B787-9 aircraft, featuring all-new cabin interiors in a three-class configuration and introducing premium economy on the route, starting August 1.
The remaining three flights per week will continue to operate with Air India's legacy B777-300ER, and with this, more than 50 per cent of Air India's North America flights will be operated with new or upgraded cabin interiors, the airline stated.
At the same time, the airline's flights to Birmingham from Amritsar and Delhi, and to London (Gatwick) from Ahmedabad and Amritsar will operate with Air India's legacy B777-300ER, replacing the currently deployed legacy B787-8 and introducing first class on these routes, it said.
Air India began retrofitting its legacy B787-8 last year, a project that will see 26 legacy B787-8 aircraft refurbished with brand-new cabin interiors, custom-designed for Air India, as well as repainting these aircraft in the airline's vibrant new livery.
The first two of these retrofitted aircraft are expected to return to service in the coming weeks, with several more to be retrofitted progressively throughout 2026, according to the airline.
Additionally, Air India expects to receive three new, custom-made B787-9 and two custom-made A350-1000 aircraft in 2026, Air India said.