The route is the airline's return to the Italian capital after nearly six years and is part of its broader expansion across Europe.

Air India Resumes Delhi-Rome Flights, IndiGo Launches Delhi-London Service in 2026

Tata Group-owned Air India has announced the resumption of direct flights between Delhi and Rome. IndiGo has confirmed the launch of a new Delhi-London Heathrow service early next year. This marks a major development for international air connectivity from India.

Air India’s non-stop service to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (Fiumicino) will restart on March 25, 2026. It was suspended in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The route is the airline’s return to the Italian capital after nearly six years and is part of its broader expansion across Europe.

According to Air India, the four-times-weekly flights will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using Boeing 787-8 aircraft, featuring 18 flat beds in Business Class and 238 Economy seats. The addition of Rome will bring the carrier’s European network to eight mainland European destinations and three in the UK, significantly improving direct connectivity between India and Italy.

Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer of Air India, said that expanding India’s global connections is a top priority and that Rome is a “natural addition” given the cultural, business and trade ties between the two countries. He further added that the service will not only benefit travellers between Delhi and Rome, but also offer improved onward connections via Delhi to destinations across South and Southeast Asia.

From February 2, 2026, IndiGo will introduce five weekly direct flights between Delhi and London Heathrow, operated with wet/damp leased Boeing 787 aircraft. This new route will offer both IndiGoStretch and Economy classes and increase the airline’s overall weekly flights to London to 12, as it already operates daily direct services from Mumbai.

Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer of IndiGo, said the new service is designed to meet growing demand for commerce, tourism and people-to-people travel between India and the United Kingdom, reinforcing the airline’s commitment to making international travel more accessible.

The Delhi-London launch follows IndiGo’s recent additions of new international routes from Delhi, including Denpasar (Bali), Krabi, Hanoi, Guangzhou and Manchester — and precedes its direct flights to Athens starting January 2026.

Source: The Tribune