MUMBAI:

will be connecting Amritsar with London Stansted with thrice-a-week service from October 31.

"Commencing from Mumbai, the flight will connect Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar to Stansted Airport in London to facilitate Sikh pilgrims aspiring to visit Punjab on the occasion of Guru Purab or the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji," said a statement issued by Air India.

The flight will be operated by a 256-seater Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft with 'Ek Onkar' painted on its tail. The fuselage has been painted with the words "Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji 550 years celebrations", the said the airline. Punjabi cuisine will served onboard Air India flight AI165 which will fly from Amritsar to London Stansted and return as flight AI 166 to Amritsar on every Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

It will be the first-ever scheduled flight to India from London Stansted Airport and the only direct link between London and Amritsar, the airline said. Air India already connects Amritsar with Birmingham with a thrice-a-week operation.

"There had been a long-felt demand for a direct flight between Amritsar and London," Air India chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani said. "We thought that Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary is a good opportunity to launch such a flight," he added.

"Our aircraft flies all over the country and all over the world. So the exterior part of the aircraft can be utilised for conveying things about India," said Lohani about the messages painted on the aircraft.