Air India launched flights between Delhi and Washington, D.C., in 2017. Since then, it has seen reasonable success with the flight, increasing the operations from the initial three-times-a-week operation to a five-times-a-week operation. The airline operates the flight with a 787-8 aircraft and is the sole operator on this capital-to-capital flight.

With Air India moving their New York and Newark operations to the Airbus A350 shortly, the airline will have four Boeing 777-300ERs available for other sectors. The initial plan was to launch flights to Dallas and other US stations with these 777s, but there has been no announcement on those routes so far, and we are already less than a month away from the first replacement of the 777 to the A350 (new routes need to be announced ahead for bookings to be built up).

Air India to operate Washington DC flights with the Boeing 777

As it turns out, Air India will move the Delhi – Washington Dulles route to be operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft, effective November 15, 2024. The airline will operate five weekly flights between DEL – IAD using the Boeing 777-200LR between November 15, 2024, and January 1, 2025, the peak season for travel between the two countries.

Unfortunately, these won’t be the 777LRs fitted with the Premium Economy cabin, but Air India’s older 777-200LR aircraft. Here are the timings of the flight, as per AeroRoutes.

AI103 DEL0155 – 0650IAD 77L x14
AI104 IAD1015 – 1035+1DEL 77L x14

The change of equipment is already reflected on the AI website.  

Aeroroutes also reports that from January 3, 2025, the service will return four times a week and be operated with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

This is a smart move by Air India now that it has a surplus of 777s to use on the route. For one, the seat count will go down from 256 to 238 seats, but the premium capacity on the route will go up to 43 from the current 18, which is more than double. US customers are known to pay good money to travel in premium cabins (even though Air India’s are broken sometimes!).

Also, this move would ensure that Air India won’t have to payload penalties to ensure they have the range on the plane and for diversion along the way, given the winter currents are different than the summer currents and it is more difficult for the aircraft to make the trip in bound to the US.

Bottomline

Air India has replaced the Boeing 787-operated route to Washington DC with a Boeing 777-200LR for the peak winter season and, after that, a Boeing 777-300ER. This is good news for the airline and passengers because it means the route will have more premium capacity.

What do you think of the upgauging of the route to a Boeing 777 operated one?

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