Mumbai

Air India on Saturday announced that it will launch a daily direct flight between Ahmedabad and London from December 15.

The announcement came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a commitment to connect the economic and industrial hub of Gujarat with the British capital during his ongoing visit to Britain.

The new service AI-131 will be operated by a Boeing B-787 Dreamliner. The plane will be operated on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai-London sector.

It will take off from Ahmedabad at 4.30 a.m. to reach Mumbai at 5.45 a.m., depart Mumbai at 7.05 a.m. and reach London at 11.30 p.m. (local time).

On the return sector, flight AI-130 will leave London at 1.30 p.m. (local time), arrive Mumbai at 4 a.m. the following day and land in Ahmedabad at 6.45 a.m.

Air India presently operates four flights to London, three from New Delhi and one from Mumbai daily.

The new flight will prove a boon to the 1.50 million strong Indian diaspora living in Britain and cater to the strong demand of over 600,000 Gujaratis living and working there.

IANS