Three airlines will now operate between London and Bengaluru.

Another UK service that Air India is starting is from Bengaluru to London Gatwick. It essentially replaces its service, which was available from the capital of Karnataka to London Heathrow till 2022. Now that three airlines will be flying to and from the Indian city for the first time, it is far more significant.

Virgin Atlantic will start operating a daily route out of Heathrow on March 31 and will complement Air India’s and British Airways’ daily operations. Bengaluru-London had an estimated 206,000 point-to-point passengers (564 daily) in 2023, according to booking statistics, a decrease from 219,000 in 2019. In fact, a lot of people use Virgin and BA to travel through Heathrow.

Air India will launch a fifth route to Gatwick

In 2023, London Stansted was essentially supplanted by Air India as the Star Alliance’s secondary Indian route airport when it joined London Gatwick’s portfolio. Heathrow is the destination of more popular and lucrative routes from Delhi and Mumbai.

It is not bookable at this time, but the 4,991-mile (8,033-kilometer) route is scheduled to start on April 1 (no joke). It will be served five times a week. It will make use of Air India’s main widebody aircraft, a 256-seat Boeing 787-8, with flights starting and finishing in Delhi. The following is the schedule, with all times being local:

Gatwick to Bengaluru: AI177, 14:05–20:05
Bengaluru to Gatwick: AI178, 21:35–11:50+1

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