Air India has announced new non-stop flights between Delhi and Osaka (Kansai International Airport), becoming the only airline to operate on the Delhi-Osaka route. Beginning 2 February 2027, Air India will operate four weekly flights between India’s capital and Japan’s second-largest metropolitan area using its Boeing 787-8 aircraft, further strengthening connectivity between India and Japan.
Osaka will become Air India’s second destination in Japan after Tokyo (Haneda), where the airline currently operates daily flights from Delhi and four weekly flights from Mumbai. The new service expands Air India’s presence in a market witnessing strong growth in demand from Indian travellers and deepening economic, tourism, and cultural ties between the two countries. The Boeing 787-8 deployed on the route features 18 full-flat beds in Business Class and 241 seats in Economy Class, delivering a comfortable travel experience between the two countries.
Designed to maximise customer convenience, the new service (AI360) will depart Delhi late in the evening and arrive in Osaka at a convenient time the following morning. The return flight (AI359) will depart Osaka late in the morning and arrive in Delhi the same evening, offering seamless connectivity to destinations across Air India’s domestic and international network. The addition of Osaka also enables travellers to book open-jaw itineraries, allowing them to fly into Osaka and return from Tokyo, or vice versa. This added flexibility is particularly relevant as multi-city travel is becoming increasingly popular among Indian visitors to Japan, especially along the country’s famed “Golden Route”, encompassing Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.
Japan continues to gain popularity among Indian travellers. More than 315,000 Indian visitors travelled to Japan in 2025, an increase of 35% over 2024 and nearly 80% above pre-pandemic levels, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO). The growth is being driven by rising interest in Japan’s leisure, cultural and culinary experiences, alongside increasing business and people-to-people ties between the two countries.