Air India has confirmed it will deploy a larger 256-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliner on its Delhi-Manila route from October 25, 2026, replacing the 188-seat Airbus A321 currently flying the daily service.
The route has expanded steadily since its October 2025 launch, growing from an initial five weekly flights to a full daily schedule as passenger demand increased.
According to aviation analyst Ameya Joshi, load factors on the Manila-Delhi sector have twice reached the low 80s, underlining the strength of demand behind the capacity upgrade.
The move comes as Air India’s exclusive hold on the route is set to end, with IndiGo seeking regulatory approval in the Philippines to launch flights to Manila and Cebu.
Philippine Airlines is also preparing its own entry, with plans to begin Delhi and Mumbai services in the winter schedule under the existing bilateral air services agreement between the two nations.
Indian arrivals in the Philippines rose 43% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, crossing 60,000 visitors, a trend widely attributed to visa-free travel access for Indian citizens.
Air India currently operates the Delhi-Manila route on a daily basis using the 188-seat Airbus A321, having scaled up from an initial five weekly flights when the service launched in October 2025.
Aviation analyst Ameya Joshi, founder of the Network Thoughts blog, said load factors on the Manila-Delhi sector have twice touched the low 80s, reflecting strong and sustained demand on the route.
Philippine Airlines is separately planning to launch its own services to Delhi and Mumbai during the winter schedule, basing its request on the bilateral Philippines-India Air Services Agreement.
That agreement permits up to 28 weekly flights between Manila and three other Philippine cities and the Indian metros of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, leaving room for further expansion by carriers on both sides.
Photo by Steve Knight, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
