Air India will launch return flights between Birmingham and Delhi from 1s of August this year, the national carrier has confirmed.

The return flights will be operated using new Boeing 787-800 `Dreamliner' plane; four times a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

According to Air India's press release, the Boeing `Dreamliner' plane will offer a total of 256 seats - 238 economy class and 18 business class seats. The flight will be scheduled to arrive from Delhi into Birmingham at 1900 hours and depart from Birmingham to Delhi at 2130 hours.

Birmingham Airport's commercial director Martyn Lloyd welcomed Air India's decision, describing it as "fantastic news".

Commenting on the development, Lloyd said, "This is fantastic news for our region and we're delighted that Air India has recognised the strong demand that lies in our catchment and will be operating the new Dreamliner aircraft on the route."

Air India used to operate a flight on the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto route earlier but that flight is no longer available.

Long-range, fuel-efficient, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine-equipped 787 Dreamliner entered into commercial service in October 2012.