The first flight, AI1111, took off from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi at 9:23 am. Passengers on this flight will connect via Delhi to various international locations, including Dubai, Colombo, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kathmandu, and Phuket.
The Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu inaugurated the service, highlighting that this model enables individuals to commence their international travels directly from their hometowns.
“Today marks a significant advancement in realizing our goal of enhancing air travel accessibility and creating a future-ready, self-sufficient Indian aviation sector that is efficient, inclusive, and globally competitive,” Naidu stated.
With the Easy Connect model, travelers from smaller cities can transit through Air India’s hubs in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, continuing on to international destinations with reduced airport formalities.
The airline noted that passengers can check in for their entire journey at their departure airport, complete immigration there, and have their luggage transferred directly to their final stop.
Easy Connect flight bookings are now available through Air India’s website, mobile app, contact center, and travel agents.
Passengers flying from Varanasi can now connect to 17 international destinations via Delhi within four hours of arrival, including London, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, Zurich, Dubai, Riyadh, and Jeddah.
Air India advises that Indian passport holders using this service must enroll in the DigiYatra app and upload their boarding passes prior to departure. Web check-in and customs declaration services are not offered at spoke airports.
At the launch event, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson emphasized that many Indian travelers currently depend on foreign airports for international connections. He stated that this new service will facilitate international travel beginning from their hometowns.
“In today’s India, families in Varanasi, Amritsar, or Vishakhapatnam shouldn’t have to deal with unfamiliar transit environments to reach global destinations. They should be able to start their international journeys from their own cities, feeling confident, comfortable, and proud as they connect seamlessly to the world,” Wilson added.
The airline plans to gradually extend the Easy Connect service to 11 more cities in the upcoming months, including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Vadodara, and Visakhapatnam.
According to Air India, nearly 25 million passengers travel on long-haul routes to and from India each year. Of these, around 20 million are connecting travelers, with about 17 million currently transiting through foreign hubs instead of Indian airports.
