Air India plans to develop its second hub in the country at an airport in south India which aligns to the objective of  strengthening international and domestic operations.

The new hub will come up in either Bengaluru or Hyderabad and will primarily focus on bolstering its operations in Mumbai. Both Air India and Air India Express will utilise this hub for domestic and international flights. Currently, the airline’s only hub in India is in New Delhi.

With the establishment of this new hub, Air India also aims to capture a larger market share in airports other than New Delhi, including smaller ones. Airlines are encouraged to open more aviation hubs to facilitate one-stop international connectivity via India to other overseas destinations. This will also boost investments and commerce within India.

The hub-and-spoke system is built around a central airport to which traffic from the spoke airports is directed, and the hub serves as a transfer point to fly passengers to their final destination.