Air India launches non-stop Delhi–Rome service, restoring direct India-Italy connectivity

Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) welcomed a water-cannon salute this morning as Air India flight AI 123 touched down from New Delhi, marking the carrier’s first non-stop rotation on the route since the pandemic and its official return to the Italian market. The four-weekly Boeing 787-8 service (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat) departs Indira Gandhi International Airport at 14:15 and lands in Rome at 19:00 local time, with the same aircraft turning around to operate the evening eastbound AI 124. The schedule is designed to maximise onward domestic and intra-EU connections from Fiumicino while offering Indian corporates a daylight westbound and red-eye eastbound option that neatly dovetails with business hours on both ends. For multinationals, the reinstated link closes a gap that had forced travellers onto time-consuming one-stop routings via the Gulf or Central Europe. Before today, capacity between Italy and India was 23 percent below its 2019 peak; consultancy Henley Aviation estimates that the direct flight will shave at least three hours off typical door-to-door journey times for executives shuttling between the two G20 economies. Italian export bodies also expect the route to support the country’s fast-growing machinery and luxury-goods sales in India, which topped €5.1 billion in 2025. The launch comes against a backdrop of aggressive network expansion by the Tata-controlled flag-carrier, which plans to deploy 30 new wide-bodies over the next two years. Rome is Air India’s second European route to be restored this month after Vienna and precedes a Milan Malpensa launch pencilled for July. On the Italian side, Aeroporti di Roma has dangled a two-year rebate on landing charges for long-haul new entrants that commit to year-round operations, an incentive credited with tipping the scales in favour of reinstating the service. Corporate travel managers should note that Air India is filing an introductory “Economy Saver” fare of roughly €620 return (inclusive of taxes) through 30 April; a Z-class business-promo fare is also available for €1,890—about 15 percent below comparable Gulf-hub itineraries. The flight is stored in all the major OBTs, but travel policies may need to be updated to reflect the non-alliance carrier’s re-entry to the Italian market. Travellers holding Indian passports still require a Schengen visa; processing times at VFS centres in Delhi and Mumbai remain around nine working days.



To simplify that paperwork hurdle, travelers can tap VisaHQ’s dedicated Italy portal, which guides Indian passport holders through every step of the Schengen application, offers document-precheck services and real-time status alerts, and even arranges secure courier pickup for those outside the major metros. Full details and current consulate requirements are available at https://www.visahq.com/italy/

Looking ahead, Air India says it will up-gauge the rotation to a Boeing 787-9 once retrofitted cabins begin delivering in Q3 2026, adding 18 premium-economy seats popular with SME exporters. Fiumicino’s connectivity boost also strengthens Italy’s bid—along with Lufthansa Group—to position Rome as a Southern European hub for traffic flows between South Asia and North America, a strategic play that could see joint transatlantic codeshares materialise once regulatory approvals are in place.