Air India is back at Schiphol after 26 years. The national airline of India now flies four times a week between the capital New Delhi and Amsterdam. Rarely have so many people been invited to be at Schiphol for the arrival of a new plane or airline, but for the Indian community in the Netherlands and the Indian government it was big news that their ‘Maharaja’ is back, so no expense was spared .
Until ten days ago, KLM was the sole ruler on routes between Schiphol and India, but they now have to tolerate competition from Air India. With the arrival of Air India, there is an Indian airline at Schiphol again after four years, following the bankruptcy of Jet Airways in 2019. That airline flew to New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Toronto in Canada and worked together with KLM.
The arrival of the Air India is striking. Schiphol is on the eve of a contraction in the number of flights per year, from 500,000 to 440,000, and will have to ban airlines and limit take-off and landing rights.
On the Youtube channel of NH Airtime you will find all previous broadcasts and longer uploads of new aircraft, airlines and lounges at Schiphol. NH Airtime is broadcast every Wednesday on the NH television channel at 5:20 pm (with reruns until the following evening).