Air India is adding Boeing 787 Dreamliner capacity to its Delhi-Manila route from October 25, 2026, upgrading from the 188-seat Airbus A321 used on the daily service since the route launched.
The service began in October 2025 with only five weekly flights before demand pushed the airline to move to a daily schedule within its first year.
Aviation analyst Ameya Joshi said load factors on the sector have twice touched the low 80s, a strong indicator that supported the decision to deploy the larger 256-seat aircraft.
The capacity boost comes as Air India’s monopoly on the route faces fresh challenges, with IndiGo applying for Philippine regulatory clearance to fly to Manila and Cebu.
Philippine Airlines is also preparing to enter the Indian market, planning Delhi and Mumbai flights for the winter schedule under the countries’ existing bilateral air services agreement.
The number of Indian travellers visiting the Philippines rose 43% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, surpassing 60,000, a rise linked in part to visa-free entry for Indian passport holders.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner that Air India will deploy on the upgraded Manila service is a twin-aisle, twin-class aircraft commonly used on the airline’s long-haul international routes.
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
