Air India eyes hub in south, to augment ops in Mumbai

Air India Ltd is planning its second hub in the à country at an airport in south India as it works to strengthen international and domestic operations and maximize network utilization, two executives aware of the plans said. Currently, the airline's only hub in India is in New Delhi.

- Anu Sharma

"The airline is augmenting its presence in Mumbai and exploring the development of one more hub in southern India," one of the two executives cited above said on condition of anonymity.

The Air India group, which also includes Vistara and Air India Express, plans to choose between Bengaluru and Hyderabad, both privately operated airports, which have expansion plans to accommodate a growing airline, the second executive said. The chosen hub will be used by Air India and Air India Express for both domestic and international flights.

The hub-and-spoke system in aviation is built around a central airport to which all traffic from the spoke airports is directed. The hub serves as a transfer point to fly passengers to their final destination. Some of the prominent international hub airports are Dubai for Emirates, Hong Kong for Cathay Pacific and London Heathrow for British Airways.