Five hundred (+) years after Columbus discovered America while trying to find India, America (US airlines) has finally discovered India. Even though Indians have been going to US in droves, none of the US airline biggies flew to India (I heard PanAM & TWA used to fly to Mumbai in 70s but they are non-existant now.). Whenever, I go to US, it has always been Singapore or Lufthansa airlines with mandatory pit stops. But that is about to change…
North American Airlines have realized there is money to be made by operating out of India and are making cautious entry.
- Air Canada has been operating a direct service between Delhi and Toronto for a while now.
- Delta has a daily flight from Chennai to New York via Paris. I wish it was a non-stop, but I believe this is just a start.
- American Airlines is flying non-stop from Delhi to Chicago. They have also tied up with Air Sahara to ferry passengers within India.
- Continental is flying non-stop from Delhi to New York. With the aviation boom in India, I expect more direct / non-stop flights between India and US.
Now, wouldn’t it be wonderful, if the airport infrastructure kept up with the aviation boom??
My wish list:
- A daily non-stop service between Chennai – San Francisco and Chennai – Chicago with real South Indian food.
- And to several cities like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, Beijing, Shanghai.
- International flights arrive and depart during the day time. Almost all of the international flights to India arrive and depart in the wee hours of the night. I have never understood the reason.
Dear Eam Viswanathan a very candid but factual assesment.We hve been flying to W.Dulles airport every year by Lufthansa or B.A or K.L.M( we never tried west coast nor fly thro'singapore)There is no direct flight from chennai to washigton.The treatment(colour bias)in B.A (last time we were victims) and u are right on dot about food.It is horrible in almost all air lines flying Europe or U.S.All the best
ReplyDeleteWith the volume of traffic to many cities, it makes sound business sense to fly direct from India...
ReplyDeleteLet's see how the aviation boom panes out..
Visu,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, It is a long time wish list for many of us who travel to US. I read recently that this change is because of the following reason.
On April 14 this year India and the US signed a "Open Skies Air Transport Agreement. This agreement came after long years of negotiation between the aviation authorities of both countries. This Open Skies Air Transport Agreement between India and the US replaces a 1956 agreement that had restricted the airlines' choices on the number of flights, the cities that could be served and the prices charged.
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- Laks
I wish we had a direct flight to chennai.!! Maybe one day..who knows.!! I also wonder about all those International flights taking off after Midnight.!!
ReplyDeleteSame here in SFO...! Singapore Airlines to Singapore takes off around midnight.!! :)
Lakshmi
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct.. the recent 'Open Air Skies' agreement signed between India & US has got a lot to do with this spurt.. hope to see more..
Narayanan
The day is not too far.. for a direct flight from Chennai to SFO
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