The AI is also planning to introduce flights on the existing routes during non-peak hours connecting tier-II and tier-III cities with the metros. Sources said that feasibility study for the purpose is going on.
Air India has already get requests from small towns like Bhagalpur, Gaya in Bihar, Deogarh in Jharkhand, Agra and Gorkhapur in Uttar Pradesh to begin air services.
In an effort to connect more tier-II and tier-III cities with metros, Air India has recently launched Delhi-Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior-Delhi, Delhi-Ranchi-Delhi and Delhi-Kanpur-Kolkata-Kanpur-Delhi flights.
Apart from these, Air India is planning to launch Delhi-Vizag-Chennai-Vizag-Delhi, Delhi-Coimbatore, Delhi-Vadodara-Surat, Delhi-Port Blair flights in the next phase.
Besides Delhi, Air India is also planning to make another hub at Guwahati to provide better connectivity to the North East. This would connect the region to the rest of the country as Guwahati airport has night landing facilities.