Summary
- Some 763,000 point-to-point passengers flew Delhi-Toronto in 2023, up from 482,000 in 2019 (!).
- Air India has grown Delhi-Toronto flights to a record 10 weekly.
- It is the carrier’s joint most-served North American route.
Due to enormous passenger volume and fast traffic growth, Air India has increased Delhi to Toronto flights to 10 weekly. Departures have risen from the previously planned daily and from just three weekly services in the pre-pandemic 2019.
Air India: Delhi to Toronto
India’s flag carrier began the 6,297 nautical mile (11,662 km) route in 2009 and operated it until 2012. It returned in 2019 and will have 10 weekly departures from September 2024, more than at any other time.
Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock
The new schedule is as follows, with all times local. Flights will exclusively be on Air India’s highest gauge equipment, the 342-seat Boeing 777-300ER. There are four first class seats, 35 in business, and 303 in regular economy. Long overdue refurbishment starts soon.
- Delhi-Toronto: AI187, 03:45-08:45 (daily); AI189, 16:05-21:15 (three weekly)
- Toronto-Delhi: AI190, 01:15-00:35+1 (three weekly); AI188, 12:15-11:25+1 (daily)
In addition to the burgeoning point-to-point (P2P) market, the new flights also enable Air India to capture better passengers bound to/from Bangkok, Colombo, Dhaka, Kathmandu, and other destinations.
Passengers up by 58% since 2019!
According to booking data, the Delhi-Toronto P2P market, when all airlines are included, rose from 482,000 passengers in 2019 to 763,000 in 2023. A staggering 281,000 P2P passengers were added (+58%). Such people only traveled between the two cities.
Passengers daily each way increased from 660 in 2019 to 1,045 last year, making it among the world’s fastest-growing long-haul markets. Reasons for the growth include the easy migration of Indians to Canada since 2017, free healthcare, guaranteed work permits for Indian students after graduating, and more.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Naturally, most people still fly via Europe, the US, and the Middle East. Will Air India rise to double daily at some point? The following bullet points show Air India’s – and fellow Star Alliance member Air Canada’s – Delhi-Toronto frequency development:
- 2019: three weekly (+ Air Canada daily)
- 2022: daily (+ Air Canada daily)
- 2023: daily (+ Air Canada daily)
- 2024: 10 weekly from September (+ Air Canada daily)
Related
100,000+ Daily Transits: Where Do Emirates’ Connecting Passengers Go?
The article provides good background traffic info.
Joint most-served North American route
Air India plans 67 weekly non-stop flights between India and the US and Canada in September. Cirium data shows that departures have risen from 61 weekly last September (+10%) and more than doubled from 33 weekly in September 2019 (+103%).
In contrast, all other non-stop operators barely grew in the past five years, with weekly departures in September increasing from just 21 to 23. Unlike Air India, North American carriers cannot overfly Russia, which has not helped development.
As of June 3, Air India’s September 11-strong route network will be as follows:
- Delhi-San Francisco: 10 weekly 777-200LR
- Delhi-Toronto: 10 weekly 777-300ER
- Delhi-Chicago O’Hare: daily 777-300ER
- Delhi-New York JFK: daily 777-300ER
- Delhi-Vancouver: daily 777-300ER
- Mumbai-New York JFK: daily 777-300ER
- Delhi-Washington Dulles: five times weekly 787-8
- Delhi-Newark: four times weekly 777-300ER/777-200LR
- Mumbai-San Francisco: four times weekly 777-200LR
- Mumbai-Newark: three times weekly 777-300ER
- Bengaluru-San Francisco: three times weekly 777-200LR
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments section.