Air India Announces Daily Flights From Delhi To Vancouver

Air India, the Indian airline that currently operates three flights per week between Delhi and Vancouver, has confirmed that it will be going back to just one flight next summer. The new 1x daily option is now available when you book.

Air India to Vancouver

Air India started Vancouver in 2020, replacing Air Canada. By confirming that Delhi-Vancouver will be 1x daily next summer (March 26th – October 28th), it will continue its current number of flights. It first had 1x daily in September 2022.

Delta is continuing to use its 787-8 aircraft on the longest-distance American routes between JFK and London Heathrow.

What are the major differences between Vancouver and Delhi?

The airline industry is seeing growing demand for more routes connecting Asia to the West. Air Canada recently announced that it would introduce 3-times weekly services between Delhi and Vancouver, which reflects a larger trend currently underway among airlines. Data shows that, in 2019, 298 000 people traveled between these two cities- this meant there was a daily capacity of 408 passengers which, when considered with seasonality, could be increased to about 832.

With travel emerging as the number one market, Vancouver Airport was Delhi’s 7th largest international airport. Only Dubai, London Heathrow, Singapore, Toronto, Kuala Lumpur, and Hong Kong were larger. Both airport level and city level, Vancouver ranked as the largest airport in North America.

In 2019, Air Canada operated 1 nonstop service to Delhi: a 12 hr 40 min flight. The flight carried approximately 90,000 (30%) P2P passengers that year, but most of the remaining passengers took alternate flights that routed through the Far East. Nearly eight in ten air travelers to Delhi took alternate flights via the Far East.

Air Canada offered flights from Vancouver to Delhi

Air India carried nearly 90,000 passengers connecting with its flights while Air Canada had minimal penetration into the broader India market. With two Star hubs mainly bound for Amritsar, Goa, Kochi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad, Air India’s market share was closer to 345,000 passengers in 2019.

A second big source of travelers for Air Canada flights over Vancouver was those who connected to other Air Canada flights. That’s because people traveling through on transit are, in this case, a common source of passengers. An estimated 84,000 travelers transited in and out of the airport specifically to go to Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Seattle.

Around 10,000 people in Vancouver and Delhi became the first to transverse between these two cities. The most popular routing was Edmonton to Vancouver and back.

What about Seattle-Delhi?

Will an airline ever operate nonstop flights between Seattle and Delhi? The P2P Delhi market is not as large as the Vancouver market. In 2019, about 68,000 flew Seattle-Deli-Seattle daily, and a 3x weekly nonstop service from Air India or otherwise should go a long way in stimulating demand. Crucially, the average fare for Seattle in 2019 was 25% higher than Vancouver despite being only 2% farther.