JAL, one of the best airlines with premium economy cabins, has made a strategic move to expand its reach across India starting from the winter 2024 schedule. It has signed a codeshare agreement with IndiGo, the biggest Indian airline in terms of domestic network. The codeshare alliance with IndiGo will provide international passengers of Japan Airlines with seamless connectivity to 14 Indian cities from New Delhi and Bengaluru.
In the first phase of the codeshare partnership, IndiGo will add Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chennai, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli, Thiruvananthapuram, and Coimbatore to Japan Airlines’ India network. IndiGo will also connect Pune, Goa, Lucknow, and Varanasi with JAL flights from Indira Gandhi DEL Airport and Kempegowda BLR Airport.
Currently, New Delhi and Bengaluru are the only destinations of JAL flights to India from USA and other countries via Tokyo. Japan’s flag carrier operates daily flights to New Delhi from/via Tokyo Haneda Airport and weekly three flights to Bengaluru from/via Tokyo Narita Airport. The codeshare route to India, exploring more options other than Delhi and Bengaluru, will generate more traffic and better deals for JAL flights.
The JAL-IndiGo codeshare agreement will enable Indians from the US network of Japan Airlines to travel seamlessly to the above-mentioned 14 Indian cities with one ticket. Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York JFK, and San Diego are among the global destinations of JAL airlines.
“Precisely, IndiGo is the wind beneath the wings of several international carriers, including Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, British Airways, and American Airlines, for their market growth in India. While Air India is eyeing expansion in key international markets, such as the USA, through more nonstop flight routes from India, IndiGo is flexing its revenue muscle through codeshare agreements with more and more major airlines,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats.
Reportedly, IndiGo, which is primarily branded as an economy airline, is looking to reposition itself with billion-dollar plans to add premium economy and business class to its product portfolio. Thirty A350-900 planes with premium economy and business class seats, which IndiGo has recently placed an order for, will help the airline align with premium passengers of its foreign codeshare partners and their expectations.
