The earlier plan was to start from October, a month after Boeing began delivering the much-awaited planes.
Instead AI is flying these to Frankfurt, Dubai and and some domestic destinations.
The India-Australia route doesn't have even a single non-stop flight from either an Indian or Australian carrier, despite the Air Service Agreement between the two countries permitting 6,500 seats a week and access to 10 cities.
The delay is another boost to foreign carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines, which dominate this route. AI operated between India and Sydney until 1991.
It had filed for landing and take-off slots to operate Delhi-Sydney-Melbourne from October with the new planes, confirmed an executive. About the delay, the executive said, "With Australia being a tourist destination, the bookings for December were already over. That is why we are deploying the Dreamliner on other commercial routes."
More, arrival of the Dreamliner had already been delayed by some months. "The pilots need to practice for landings and takeoffs on any new aircraft. With all these delays, we had to also shift the timeline for the Sydney-Melbourne flight," the executive added.
While no Australian or Indian carriers operate non-stop services between the two countries, Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jet Airways serve the route through code-share arrangements.
Dreamliners are 25 per cent more fuel-efficient than similar-size Boeing 777s and are optimal for flights of 10-13
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