Air India
Air India reconnects Delhi, Rome after six years with non-stop service. All details inside
Tata Group-owned Air India has inaugurated its new 4 times weekly non-stop service to Rome, marking a return to the Italian city after nearly six years.
Rome is Air India’s eighth gateway in Mainland Europe and the second destination in Italy, after Milan.
Operational details
Air India will operate the flight four times a week. Flights will run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
The aircraft features a two-class cabin configuration with 18 fully flat beds in Business Class and 241 spacious seats in Economy Class.
The flight schedule has been designed to enable convenient connections via Delhi to several destinations across India and Southeast Asia, including but not limited to Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. This enables travellers from Italy to easily access Air India’s growing international and domestic network.
What happened during the first flight?
Flight AI123 departed from Delhi at 1332 Hrs (IST) on March 25, landing at Rome Fiumicino in the evening to a warm welcome from dignitaries from the Indian Embassy in Italy, Fiumicino airport officials, and Air India staff.
The first flight was welcomed by a delegation including Vani Rao, Ambassador of India to Italy and San Marino; Gaurav Gandhi, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India in Rome; Swaminathan Krishnamoorthy, Head of Chancery, Embassy of India in Rome; and senior officials from Aeroporti Di Roma, who also inaugurated the departing flight from Rome, which landed in Delhi at 1029 Hrs (IST) on Thursday.
"The dignitaries celebrated the occasion with a traditional Indian ceremony of lamp-lighting, cake-cutting and honouring the first passenger to board the flight," Air India said in a statement.
India-Italy ties
Italy remains an important partner for India across trade, tourism and cultural exchange. Bilateral trade between the two countries surpassed USD 14 billion in 2025, supported by strong collaboration in sectors like engineering, automotive, fashion and design. Italy is also home to one of the largest Indian communities in continental Europe, with more than 200,000 people of Indian origin contributing to steadily growing travel demand between the two countries.
“We are pleased to welcome Air India’s arrival in Rome,” said Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer of Aeroporti di Roma. “The new direct connection to Delhi enhances our offering to the Indian capital and meets the growing travel demand between Italy and India. This new route further strengthens Rome Fiumicino’s role as a leading international hub in the Mediterranean, increasingly central to air links with Asia.”
Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India, said: “Demand for travel between India and Europe continues to grow across both leisure and business segments, with the two nations sharing so much in common culturally, and their increasing exchange that continues to deepen business, trade, and people-to-people ties. We are delighted to reconnect the two historic capital cities while also enabling seamless onward travels via our Delhi hub to and from destinations across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.”
Air India now flies non-stop from India to eight points in Mainland Europe, namely Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich.
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