Travel to Bangladesh

An airline can begin its operation either as a scheduled airliner or a non-scheduled one. A scheduled airline is the one which is required to have a pre-defined timetable of operation on a specific route. These airlines define the routes of travel, days of the week when these would be flying and the times during which flights will operate. The permission for flying on specific routes within a particular time slot at the different airports in India is given by the civil aviation regulatory, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The airlines are required to submit their detailed schedule of flights for approval. Air India is also a scheduled carrier and has a pre-defined timetable of operation. Like other airlines, the Air India flight schedule is provided for summer and winter months separately.

Seasonal Variance in Air India Flight Schedule

India is a country with seasonal variations in climatic conditions. By reason of changes in environmental conditions as well as due to demand fluctuations, the airlines cannot maintain the same schedule of operation for all months of the year. Therefore, these have to make changes to their schedules as per the season. Generally, there are two schedules brought out by the carriers. These are summer and winter schedules which are applicable respectively from the months of March to October and November to February.

Information Available From Schedules

An approved schedule chart would show the route of flight with the point of departure and arrival. Against each route is shown the operating carrier, flight number, type of aircraft, frequency of operation during a week, departure and arrival times, and the number of stops en route. Travellers shall note that while number of stops is shown, the names of stopover destinations might not be known.

An airline is duty bound to operate its flight as agreed. However, there could be situations when this is not possible, and the carrier might have to cancel or delay its flights due to some inadvertent situation. Repeated failure to do so would invite reprimand and strictures from the DGCA. This would affect the on-time arrival record of the airline and also reduces its credibility to be punctual.

Where to find Air India schedules?

These can be easily found on different online portals. For the benefit of travellers, these are listed with the DGCA on its website in the PDF format. These are provided on the websites of the airlines, agencies and others for easy online reference. Since the information is freely available in public, it can be used to plan travel itinerary well in advance.

This information could be available in the form of a PDF document or some spreadsheet for downloading. Else, it would be shown as an online webpage in a tabular format. Yet another way of finding the Air India flight schedule is to enter the origin, destination and date of departure.

How to use flight schedule for travel?

If travellers have a clear choice of airline and flexible travel dates, then this information can be used to select days and times of flight that are most appropriate. They can even check which airplane will be operating on the route and select seats accordingly. By knowing the departure and arrival time of flights, passengers can also know the duration of flight. For international flights of Air India, when time zones change, the duration shall be found out by taking into account the time zone adjustments.