The Government of India has long talked about optimising Indian airports, with the ambition of making them work like true hubs. However, hub airports operate differently because the minimum connection time must be shorter. In India, we have been working with the more archaic system of having people arrive at an airport, go through security checks again, and have their passport control done at the final port of departure from the country (a system still followed by the Schengen Zone as well) rather than just staying in the sterile area.
Now, the Government announced in late April 2026 that a new “Hub and Spoke” system will be trialled, and Air India has made the first move to participate in it.
What is the Hub & Spoke Model?
Under the hub-and-spoke model, passengers arriving from various smaller cities will be consolidated in a coordinated manner and routed through major hub airports such as Delhi for onward international connections. Outbound flights will carry both originating domestic passengers and international transit passengers. At the spoke airport, passengers will be issued two separate boarding passes, clearly marked with ‘D’ (domestic) and ‘I’ (international) indicators. Customs and immigration formalities for outbound passengers will be completed at the first point of exit from the country, which will be the spoke airport, and passengers on such outbound journeys will not have access to customs declaration facilities during transit.
For inbound passengers, customs and immigration processes will take place at the final point of entry into the country, which will again be the spoke airport. The model further envisages that baggage for both inbound and outbound international passengers will be transferred seamlessly through airside operations at the hub airport, eliminating the need for passenger intervention. To maintain operational efficiency and regulatory clarity, combination flights will not be permitted, and separate aircraft will be deployed for the domestic and international segments of hub-and-spoke operations.
These are words from the April 2026 press release announcing the model.
Air India becomes the first airline to operate from Varanasi under the hub-and-spoke model
Air India has opened bookings for its first flights under the hub-and-spoke model, introducing these as ‘Easy Connect’ flights, and enabling travellers from cities beyond major hubs to drop baggage and complete immigration at the origin airport and travel seamlessly to destinations across the world.
Air India’s new Easy Connect flights will commence from Varanasi on June 25, 2026. As the lead carrier spearheading the implementation of this transformative model, Air India will be driving a phased rollout of Easy Connect flights across multiple cities in the months ahead to operationalise seamless international connectivity from India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities at scale.
Travellers from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities such as Varanasi can check in at their home airport and continue all the way through to their final international destination, with no need to collect or recheck baggage at the hub airport (e.g., Delhi). Travellers will also complete international immigration formalities at their originating airport, avoiding queues and processing at the hub.
These passengers will transit through hub airports like Delhi as international travellers, enabling faster, more efficient connections.
Easy Connect flights from Varanasi to the world
The designated Easy Connect flight from Varanasi to Delhi will operate daily as AI1111. Within four hours of arrival at Delhi, the flight is timed to provide seamless connections to 17 international destinations, including London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Manila, Singapore, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Riyadh, and Dubai, among others. AI1111 is essentially a retimed version of AI1850, an all-economy configuration flight from Varanasi to Delhi.
However, what is perhaps surprising is that this hub-and-spoke initiative is only working outward from India, not returning to India for now. Back in the day, airlines such as Jet Airways used to operate red-eye flights to bring the customers to their eventual cities.
What are the rules of boarding this flight as just a domestic customer?
As a domestic customer, you won’t be able to web check in for now. You will be given your boarding pass at the airport, and you will need to depart from and arrive at the international terminal.
What are the rules of boarding this flight as a transfer customer of Air India (under 4 hours) to an International Flight?
You will be able to book the fare if you book an onward international connection on an Air India flight within 4 hours of arrival at the Delhi Airport. As for international flights exiting India, you won’t be issued a boarding pass or be able to web-check in for this flight (for now). This will enable a document check at Varanasi before your boarding passes are handed out.
Your baggage will be checked through to your final destination.
Indian nationals must register on the DigiYatra platform and have the app active on their mobile phone. Passengers must upload their boarding pass on the DigiYatra app after check-in at the airport.
Passengers of non-Indian nationalities will be required to proceed directly to document verification at the transfer area at Delhi airport.
What are the rules of boarding this flight as a transfer customer of Air India (over 4 hours) to an International Flight?
In this case, you will need to complete your immigration and customs process at Delhi airport rather than at Varanasi itself.
Subsequent Easy Connect flights with hub-and-spoke operations from other ‘spoke’ airports will be numbered in the ‘AI11XX’ series, creating a distinct network identity for these services.
Why Delhi and why now?
Delhi Airport has recently undertaken extensive work to remodel the airport and expand Terminal 3 for international operations. There are also new boards going up in the transfer area of Delhi Airport’s International transfer area to indicate which way to go when you want to travel only domestically (marked D, on the boarding pass) and when you want to travel abroad (marked I, on the boarding pass)
Image via X/@Upintheair380
P. Balaji, Group Head – Governance, Risk, Compliance & Corporate Affairs, Air India, said:
The successful implementation of the hub-and-spoke model requires close coordination across airlines, airports, and multiple government agencies, and we are grateful for the strong collaboration that has enabled this rollout. Air India is committed to continuing to work closely with all stakeholders across the industry and the Government of India as we expand this model to more cities and phases. Together, we are building a more efficient, integrated, and globally competitive aviation ecosystem for India.
The rollout will expand to several additional cities in phases over the coming months, as Air India continues to anchor and lead the implementation of this next-generation connectivity model.
Open questions include how this model will work on return in India, and how any other airline not based in India will be able to transfer passengers from/to these designated flights.
Bottomline
Air India is launching the first flights that will allow customers to stay airside when they arrive to transfer at Delhi Airport. These flights will operate from June 25, 2026, from Varanasi to Delhi, allowing transfers to international destinations from Delhi without completing passport control in Delhi.
What do you make of the new hub-and-spoke policy and how Air India is implementing it?
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