Air India is expanding its Asia network with two new nonstop routes: Delhi-Hanoi, starting May 1, 2026, and Mumbai-Tokyo Haneda, starting June 15, 2026. The Hanoi launch makes it Air India's second gateway in Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh City, while the Tokyo route adds a second Japanese city pair alongside the existing Delhi-Haneda service.
What happened
The Delhi-Hanoi route will operate five times weekly on Air India's A320neo aircraft, featuring Business, Premium Economy, and Economy cabins, and adds more than 7,000 seats a month between India and Vietnam, according to Air India's official press release. It complements the airline's existing daily Ho Chi Minh City service, giving travellers open-jaw itinerary options across the two cities for the first time.
The Mumbai-Tokyo Haneda route will fly four times weekly on Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, departing Mumbai in the late afternoon and arriving in Tokyo the following morning, with the return leg landing back in Mumbai in the afternoon, per Aviation A2Z's reporting. This runs alongside Air India's Delhi-Haneda service, which the airline separately upgraded to a 787-9 with Premium Economy cabins and increased frequency from 4x to 7x weekly earlier in 2026.
Why it matters
Vietnam and Japan have both become higher-demand destinations for Indian leisure and business travellers in the past couple of years — Vietnam for affordable beach and city breaks, Japan for a mix of culture, shopping, and the weakened yen making it more accessible than it used to be. A second Vietnam gateway and expanded Japan capacity from Air India directly addresses two of the routes where Indian carriers have historically offered thinner nonstop options compared to Southeast Asian or Gulf hubs.
What this means for your trip
If you're planning a Vietnam trip, the new Hanoi route means you can now fly into one city and out of another without doubling back — useful for a Hanoi-Ha Long Bay-Ho Chi Minh City-Mekong Delta loop, for instance, instead of retracing your steps. For Japan, having both a Delhi and a Mumbai nonstop option to Haneda widens your booking window and gives western and southern India travellers a shorter routing than connecting via Delhi.
The new Delhi-Hanoi service "adds 7,028 seats to and from Vietnam each month," making Hanoi "Air India's second gateway in Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh City" — Air India newsroom
The bottom line
More nonstop capacity to Vietnam and Japan means more competitive fares and easier scheduling on two of the more popular Indian outbound routes this year. If either destination is on your list, both new routes are worth checking against existing Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City and Delhi-Haneda options when you compare fares and layover times.
