Air India has launched the country’s first ‘Easy Connect’ flight under the Government of India’s newly introduced hub-and-spoke aviation framework, marking a major milestone in India’s efforts to strengthen international connectivity through its own airport hubs.
The inaugural Easy Connect service, flight AI1111, departed Varanasi for Delhi, enabling international passengers to seamlessly connect onwards to destinations including Dubai, Colombo, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kathmandu and Phuket. The launch is expected to transform international travel by allowing passengers from smaller Indian cities to begin their overseas journeys from their home airports without relying on foreign transit hubs.
The first Easy Connect flight was inaugurated at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi, by Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, in the presence of senior government officials and Air India executives, including Samir Kumar Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Puneet Kansal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; Vipin Kumar, Chairman, Airports Authority of India; Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India; and P. Balaji, Group Head – Governance, Risk, Compliance & Corporate Affairs, Air India.
Speaking at the inauguration, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said, “Today we take a major step forward towards realising our vision of making air travel more accessible and building a future-ready, self-reliant Indian aviation industry that is efficient, inclusive, and globally competitive. Our new hub-and-spoke model paves the way for a monumental shift in how our citizens travel, where regardless of the city one lives in India, one can begin their international journey from their home city and travel across the globe with ease and confidence, on India’s own wings.”
As part of the launch, the Minister presented the first passenger checking in for the inaugural flight with a commemorative boarding pass.
Nationwide rollout planned
Air India will be the first airline to implement the hub-and-spoke framework through a phased nationwide rollout connecting domestic “spoke” cities with its primary international hubs in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Following Varanasi, the airline plans to progressively introduce Easy Connect services from Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam over the coming months.
The initiative aims to significantly improve international accessibility for travellers from non-metro cities while strengthening India’s position as a global aviation hub.
Reducing dependence on overseas transit hubs
According to Air India, nearly 25 million passengers travel on long-haul international routes to and from India annually. Of these, around 20 million are connecting passengers, with approximately 85 per cent (around 17 million travellers) currently transiting through overseas hubs instead of Indian airports.
Commenting on the launch, Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Air India, said, “India is a major force in global aviation, and yet, for decades, a meaningful share of Indian travellers flying abroad have routed their journeys through overseas transit points, often at the cost of comfort and convenience. Air India’s Easy Connect flights are a response to that reality, and we are grateful to the Government of India for its vision and support in enabling this framework.”
He added, “In today’s India, a family in Varanasi, Amritsar, or Visakhapatnam should not have to navigate unfamiliar transit environments to reach the world. They should be able to begin their international journey from their home city, on their own soil, feeling confident, comfortable, and proud as they connect seamlessly to global destinations.”
How Easy Connect works
Under the new framework, passengers travelling from spoke cities can complete through check-in to their final international destination at their origin airport. Immigration formalities are completed at the departure airport instead of the hub, while checked baggage is transferred directly to the final destination without requiring passengers to reclaim and re-check luggage during transit.
The model allows travellers to transit through Indian hubs such as Delhi and Mumbai as international transfer passengers, reducing travel complexity while eliminating the need to navigate unfamiliar foreign airports during onward journeys.
Indian passport holders travelling on Easy Connect flights are required to enrol in DigiYatra and upload their boarding passes before departure. Web check-in and customs declaration facilities are currently not available at spoke airports under the programme.
Expanding international connectivity
Flight AI1111 from Varanasi to Delhi currently offers seamless onward connectivity to 17 international destinations within four hours of arrival in Delhi, including London, Rome, Milan, Frankfurt, Zurich, Dubai, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Bookings for Air India’s Easy Connect flights are now open across all sales channels, including the airline’s website, mobile application, contact centre and authorised travel agents.
