AI has changed the schedule once again in recent tenders.
The original schedule:
| Flight No. | Departure | Arrival | Aircraft | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI 312 | DEL 01:40 | SYD 18:15 | 77L/77W/787 | 12-4-6- |
| AI 312 | SYD 19:45 | MEL 21:20 | 77L/77W/787 | 12-4-6- |
| AI 311 | MEL 22:55 | DEL 06:35* | 77L/77W/787 | 12-4-6- |
| AI 316 | DEL 23:15 | MEL 15:40* | 77L/77W/787 | -2-4-6- |
| AI 311 | MEL 17:20 | SYD 18:50 | 77L/77W/787 | –3-5-7 |
| AI 311 | SYD 20:30 | DEL 04:25* | 77L/77W/787 | –3-5-7 |
However, in recent tenders, AI 316/311 have been cancelled, and AI 312 has been made daily:
| Flight No. | Departure | Arrival | Aircraft | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI 312 | DEL 01:40 | SYD 19:15 | 77L/77W/787 | DAILY |
| AI 312 | SYD 20:45 | MEL 22:15 | 77L/77W/787 | DAILY |
| AI 311 | MEL 23:45 | DEL 06:55+1 | 77L/77W/787 | DAILY |
This schedule barely leaves enough time to operate the AI 115/116 rotation to London in between the MEL/SYD flight. AI might choose to operate DEL-LHR-DEL in between the DEL-SYD-MEL-DEL rotation, but I’m not sure where maintenance would be scheduled in…
Regardless, it seems likely that AI 115/116 (morning departure to LHR) will be returning this year, to facilitate Kangaroo traffic connections.
This new schedule also gets rid of the crew scheduling problems which would be created by operating a reverse-triangle type routing schedule.