Air India expands "Easy Connect" services to Amristar

Following the launch of its “Easy Connect” services from Varnasi last month, Air India is expanding the program that allows for seamless international transit via Delhi to the city of Amritsar.

Under the Easy Connect program services at Amritsar, two daily Amritsar-Delhi flights have been designated for those connecting from the city onto Air India’s international network at Delhi. The two flights are as follows:

AI1113 ETD 0910H ETA 1040H

AI1115 ETD 2200H ETA: 2320H

Using the two flights to connect to their international flights at Delhi, international travelers from Amritsar can complete their check-in to their final destinations, clear the immigration process at Amritsar, and proceed to their connecting flight at Delhi without re-checking baggage or changing terminals.

According to Air India, the morning flight AI1113 is timed for convenient connections to key European destinations such as London Heathrow, Birmingham, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Vienna, Amsterdam, Zurich, Frankfurt, and Rome, as well as select destinations in Southeast Asia and West Asia.

The late evening flight AI1114 is timed for connections to the US, Canada, and Australia including the following cities: New York (JFK), Newark (New Jersey), San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Melbourne, Sydney. The evening service also enables connections to cities in Southeast Asia and West Asia such as Singapore, Phuket, Bali, and Dubai.

Hub-and-Spoke Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Air India’s Easy Connect services from Varnasi and Amristar support India’s efforts to capture international transit traffic within its own airports under the Indian government’s Hub-and-Spoke Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for domestic-to-international transfers. The current four hubs where travelers can connect onto outbound international flights from India under the program are Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Under the new Hub-and-Spoke SOP for domestic-to-international connections, transfer traffic will be consolidated at four major hubs. Classified as an international flight, two separate boarding passes will be given and marked D for Domestic and I for International. Customs and immigration procedures will be done at the initial point of departure, and passengers will be on specific flights at international zones separated from domestic passengers.

For international-to-domestic connections, the customs and immigration procedures will be done at the arrival airport in the country. Checked bags will be transferred without the passenger being required to claim them at the initial point of arrival. Instead the bags will be claimed at the final destination in India.

The flights operated under the hub and spoke system will only have international passengers, so separate aircraft will be used for domestic and international segments.