Air India has launched four new services from London’s Gatwick airport as it has embarked on a major expansion.
The latest service started by the Tata Group-owned airline on Tuesday (28) connects the British capital with Goa, one of India’s top tourist destinations. Three other services it launched since Sunday (26) link London to Ahmedabad, Amritsar and Kochi.
It is for the first time an Indian aviation company has begun flight services from Gatwick where nearly 500 new jobs will be created.
With the new services - run with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner - the number of flights operated by the company between India and the UK has gone up to 49 a week as it has scaled up the frequencies of other services.
It has increased the number of its flights from London Heathrow to Delhi from 14 to 17 a week and to Mumbai from 12 to 14 times a week.
Air India also flies from Birmingham to Delhi and Amritsar three times a week on each route.
The flag carrier, taken over by Tata from the Indian government last year, currently has 126 aircraft. But it began a major transformation by placing the largest-ever firm orders for a total of 470 aircraft with Airbus and Boeing. Deliveries of the new jets will begin later this year.
The orders for new aircraft are in addition to 36 narrow-body and wide-body aircraft that the airline leased in late 2022, which are being inducted into its fleet.
Air India managing director and CEO Campbell Wilson said the company’s substantial investment in customer service, new aircraft and the brand overall will enable it to gain market share on key routes between the UK and India. It would also “drive more business and leisure travellers to visit India itself”, he said.
Air India which had been incurring losses while being run by the government, is likely to post a consolidated operating profit this fiscal year, according to an Economic Times report.
Air India launches new services from London’s Gatwick
The carrier has increased the number of its flights from London Heathrow to Delhi from 14 to 17 a week and to Mumbai from 12 to 14 times a week
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)