BENGALURU, India, 19 October 2026: Air India confirms it will introduce direct flights between Delhi, India and Osaka (Kansai International Airport), Japan, making it the only airline to operate on the Delhi-Osaka route.
Beginning 2 February 2027, Air India will operate four weekly flights between India’s capital and Japan’s second-largest metropolitan area using its Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
Osaka will become Air India’s second destination in Japan after Tokyo (Haneda), where the airline currently operates daily flights from Delhi and four weekly flights from Mumbai. The new service expands Air India’s presence in a market seeing strong demand from Indian travellers and deepening economic, tourism, and cultural ties between the two countries.
The Boeing 787-8 on the route offers 18 full-flat beds in business class and 241 economy seats.
The new service (AI360) will depart Delhi late evening and arrive in Osaka at a convenient time the following morning.
The return flight (AI359) will depart Osaka late in the morning and arrive in Delhi the same evening, offering seamless connectivity to destinations across Air India’s domestic and international network.
Adding Osaka also lets travellers book ‘open-jaw’ itineraries, flying to Osaka and returning from Tokyo, or vice versa. This added flexibility matters as multi-city travel becomes increasingly popular among Indian visitors to Japan, especially along the country’s famed “Golden Route”, which includes Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.
Air India is progressively making its Delhi-Osaka flights available for booking via the airline’s official website, mobile app, customer contact centre, airport ticketing offices, and travel agents worldwide.
Japan: A favourite among Indian travellers
Japan continues to gain popularity among Indian travellers. More than 315,000 Indian visitors travelled to Japan in 2025, up 35% from 2024 and nearly 80% above pre-pandemic levels, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO).
Rising interest in Japan’s leisure, cultural, and culinary experiences, along with growing business and people-to-people ties between the two countries, is driving the growth.
(Source: Air India)
