<p>Air India plans to begin operations to 18 new destinations this summer of which three will include the Middle East, a senior airline official has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The new routes planned to the Gulf include a flight connecting Manama, Bahrain and Dammam to New Delhi while a direct flight from Dubai will connect Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, said Deepak Barara, Executive Director of Air India.<br /><br />According to him, the recently cancelled Salalah-Thiruvananthapuram flight will also resume shortly.<br /><br />There are currently 21 flights a week from Gulf countries to India.<br />There has been an overall improvement in the airlines bottom line with a near-double digit growth in net profit (9.89 per cent) and a 20 per cent growth in bilateral air traffic flow between India and the UAE, Barara was quoted as saying by Emirates 24/7.<br />He said A321 carriers will be deployed to some Kerala airports.</p>
<p>Air India plans to begin operations to 18 new destinations this summer of which three will include the Middle East, a senior airline official has said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The new routes planned to the Gulf include a flight connecting Manama, Bahrain and Dammam to New Delhi while a direct flight from Dubai will connect Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, said Deepak Barara, Executive Director of Air India.<br /><br />According to him, the recently cancelled Salalah-Thiruvananthapuram flight will also resume shortly.<br /><br />There are currently 21 flights a week from Gulf countries to India.<br />There has been an overall improvement in the airlines bottom line with a near-double digit growth in net profit (9.89 per cent) and a 20 per cent growth in bilateral air traffic flow between India and the UAE, Barara was quoted as saying by Emirates 24/7.<br />He said A321 carriers will be deployed to some Kerala airports.</p>