Air-India to fly non-stop to US from April - Airliners-India

Gaurav · Recruit

Air-India to fly non-stop to US from April

PALatYWG · Member

Finally some news on the AI's long haul plan with their new aircrafts! With 777LRs, AI had to fly non-stop to the US. BOM-NYC will be a good start.

On the Canadian front, I would like to see AI flying non-stop ATQ-YYZ then onto YVR. ATQ-BHX can be transferred to IC, if they are really serious to fly to the UK.

Way to go AI!

VOTV · Member

I would like to see a BOM-YYZ, stop or Non-stop.

Aseem · Member

VOTV wrote:

I would like to see a BOM-YYZ, stop or Non-stop.

basically what is needed is YYZ-BOM and YVR-DEL. Anyway good news for AI, and I hope the bonhomie is not spoilt by crappy inflight product.

Moreover, the article talks about adding other routes. Is it possible to do BOM-SFO non-stop via the Pacific. It is practically stretching B772LR to its limit of 8865nm, as the distance is 8406 nm.

Map

rgds

VT-ASJ

p.s. Link: http://tinyurl.com/r6cn7

-- Edited by Aseem at 07:50, 2006-09-01

D-ABTH · Member

all these flights will be seriously payload restricted... just as the CO and AA and soon to be DL flights with the 777 are

karatecatman · Member

Will most probably getting news about the proposed route of the 777-200LRs.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11791.html

-- Edited by karatecatman at 12:45, 2006-09-01

himmat01 · Member

AI continues with it's BOM fixation. It should at least start one stop service via Europe to the US from BLR/MAA.

karatecatman · Member

Aseem wrote:

VOTV wrote:

I would like to see a BOM-YYZ, stop or Non-stop.

basically what is needed is YYZ-BOM and YVR-DEL. Anyway good news for AI, and I hope the bonhomie is not spoilt by crappy inflight product.

Air India was banking heavily on Connexion. NOw that Boeing has indicated thats its the end for the product, wonder what AI will do. Connexion would have been great on an ultra long haul.

himmat01 · Member

karatecatman wrote:

Aseem wrote:

VOTV wrote:

I would like to see a BOM-YYZ, stop or Non-stop.

basically what is needed is YYZ-BOM and YVR-DEL. Anyway good news for AI, and I hope the bonhomie is not spoilt by crappy inflight product.

Air India was banking heavily on Connexion. NOw that Boeing has indicated thats its the end for the product, wonder what AI will do. Connexion would have been great on an ultra long haul.

Issue a fresh tender for some alternate system.

karatecatman · Member

Date:20/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/20/stories/2006112015201000.htm

Tamil Nadu

Air India announces plans from Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad for 2007

Southern metros to have direct air links with U.S.

T.S. Shankar

Air India's plans will take off in June

— Photo:R. Ragu

V. Thulasidas.

CHENNAI: The three southern metros, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, have a firm place in Air India's master plan of providing direct connections to the United States with one transit halt in Europe, V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, said on Sunday.

With Air India taking delivery of the first of the state-of-the-art Boeing aircraft on November 30, the national carrier's plan to connect the three cities with the U.S. will become a reality from June 2007," he told The Hindu here. The Boeing-777-300-Extended Range U.S.-bound flights will transit via Frankfurt, London or Paris.

The new generation fleet of the Boeing family of 737s, 777s, and 787s will cater to the short- and medium-range routes and long-haul sectors. With the arrival of the first aircraft, the AI plans to announce direct daily flights to New York or Chicago from Mumbai to start with and similar operations out of New Delhi as and when the new Boeing fleet join the airline. "These jetliners will not only be 25 per cent more fuel efficient but also cater to the changing needs of air travellers," Mr. Thulasidas said.

"The national carrier would have a good mix of 777-ultra long-range version, 777-extended range jets. Beginning this November, air passengers will not only see a quantitative [in terms of enhanced capacity] but a qualitative change in the airlines services."

Air India Express

The subsidiary airline, Air India Express (AIE), will shortly introduce direct flights to Dubai from Tiruchi, besides augmenting the present five-times-a-week services to Singapore out of Chennai to daily flights. Kuala Lumpur is also on the active consideration of AIE, but the airline was awaiting clearance from the Malaysian Government.

On the merger of AI and Indian Airlines, Mr. Thulasidas said if the proposal obtained the clearance of the Empowered Group of Ministers meeting scheduled on November 27, then it would be placed before the Cabinet. "It is a necessity and both the carriers would be in a better position to face the stiff competition in the civil aviation sector."

Should also settle the argument betweeen TexDravid and Jaysit on airliners.net!!!!

-- Edited by karatecatman at 12:10, 2006-11-20

COUGAR · Member

THIRTEEN hours on an Air India rustbucket???

BRRR!!! I pity the fool who has to suffer this agony. As for me I am gonna switch to KF/9W/IC.

ssbmat · Member

Well the 7772LRs wont be rust-bucket standard at least for 5 years into service.

Besides, to comment on an earlier point- I dont think the B777-200LR would be payload restricted Westbound even from BOM-ORD nonstop-otherwise, what IS the difference between a B772ER and LR ? I thought B777-200LR had a range of 9000nm ??

karatecatman · Member

Source: Ministry of Civil Aviation

Ministry of Civil Aviation
AIR INDIA TO START NON-STOP SERVICES TO USA FROM APRIL 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15:25 IST
Lok Sabha

With the induction of the new Ultra Long Range Aircraft B-777-200LR, Air India plans to offer non-stop services between USA and India from April 2007. This information was given by Shri Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation in the Parliament today.

It will be recalled that Air India and Air India Express have together placed an order for induction of 68 new aircraft from Boeing Airplane Company and these are being delivered in phases beginning November 2006. The first Aircraft was delivered on 30th November 2006. With the induction of these new aircraft, Air India and Air India Express have plans to increase services to the existing destinations as well as add new destinations in the regions of North America, Europe, East Asia, Australia, Africa, SAARC etc.

Air India and Air India Express, presently operate international services through their operations to the following cities namely New York, Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Birmingham, Paris, Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Sharjah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Doha, Muscat, Salalah, Kuwait, Baharain, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Jakarta, Shanghai, Hongkong, Dhaka, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

the_380 · Member

Isn't AI supposed to be the third airline to recieve the 772LRs?? Who is the second one?

texdravid · Recruit

himmat01 wrote:

AI continues with it's BOM fixation. It should at least start one stop service via Europe to the US from BLR/MAA.

I completely agree. BLR-SFO thrice weekly one-stop or nonstop should suffice at the beginning. We can worry about MAA later.

To those that say I won't get up from my LH business seat to try out AI, believe it or not, I would. It has been 22 years since I flew AI (JFK-LHR-BOM-MAA) and if AI has this new service I will try it out at least once.

LH is starting to take Indians for granted. Their service has gone downhill, and they have avoided putting their newest business class product on their South Indian runs.

Thus, I would try out IAH(DFW less likely to happen)-MAA in a heartbeat, as would many Tamils in Texas.

karatecatman · Member

Interview with Thulasidas ( a few posts up) makes this clear --- Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad will get the links to the US with the 777/747.

Chennai office of Air India is getting ready to ask for invitations for long haul crew accommodation. (Its quite busy now as AIX Chennai to Singapore has also become daily.)

Local buzz is that out of Chennai, it will either be the ex-United 777-200 or the refurbished AVOD Thales IFE 747-400, and by June.

Nimish · Member

karatecatman wrote:

Chennai office of Air India is getting ready to ask for invitations for long haul crew accommodation. (Its quite busy now as AIX Chennai to Singapore has also become daily.)

Local buzz is that out of Chennai, it will either be the ex-United 777-200 or the refurbished AVOD Thales IFE 747-400, and by June.

Wow - that's quite soon - I guess BOM being overcrowded must also have something to do with this - as it's possible AI is unable to get parking bays for it's new aircrafts in BOM.

KCM - what is "invitations for LH crew acco" - is that a tender for hotel rooms for a layover? Won't the crew typically be MAA based, so they would be going back home at MAA?

Jaysit · Member

Isn't the International terminal at Mumbai pretty much dead after 8 am and until the evening Gulf departures, the 4 mid-day nonstops to Heathrow notwithstanding?

Nonstops to the US East coast could well leave at those hours, couldn't they? A New York nonstop leaving BOM between the hours of 8 am and noon would arrive in the afternoon.

I still don't know how AI is going to make a FRA hub work. If the flights departing India are delayed, it will be chaos at FRA, especially if Indian passengers on board lack the requisite visas to be accommodated at hotels for the next connection.

D-ABTH · Member

texdravid wrote:

himmat01 wrote:

AI continues with it's BOM fixation. It should at least start one stop service via Europe to the US from BLR/MAA.

I completely agree. BLR-SFO thrice weekly one-stop or nonstop should suffice at the beginning. We can worry about MAA later.

To those that say I won't get up from my LH business seat to try out AI, believe it or not, I would. It has been 22 years since I flew AI (JFK-LHR-BOM-MAA) and if AI has this new service I will try it out at least once.

LH is starting to take Indians for granted. Their service has gone downhill, and they have avoided putting their newest business class product on their South Indian runs.

Thus, I would try out IAH(DFW less likely to happen)-MAA in a heartbeat, as would many Tamils in Texas.

as per service... that is always the passengers perogative to decide.. i leave that alone.

but as for us not using the new business class on the "south indian" routes has reasons. for that matter not even BOM sees the new business class.. and we are a market where the no show factor for business class is currently as low as 2 passengers... but getting back to the original point.. as i mentioned there are reasons we are not utilising the new business class on the Indian routes, reasons that i wouldnt be able to specify in public. however i have said previously, our Jumbos are scheduled for a fleetwide reconfiguration sometime in 2007, sooner i would say than later. Im pretty sure we will then have changes on the routes to India.

Currently as far as the new business class product goes, there are a particular set of destinations (mostly the america's and a few south asian destinations) which are assigned to the new class, as are a few specific registrations which operate to India very limitedly.. although we can carry out the config change for any particular registration if needed. passengers can access the list of destinations with the new configs on lufthansa's website, it was put up earlier i dont know if we still maintain it.

So please dont be under any misconceptions as to a deliberate non operation of the new business class to and of the south indian destinations. As per my senior colleagues Indias certain south indian destination currently ranks as the top five to top three station in our network with the highest business yield and is characterised as a long term booking market as opposed to BOM being described as a high yield but short term change/fluctuation market.... so we often get the brunt of having to deal with last minute config changes occasionally.

vivekman · Member

BOM airport is relatively calmer after 8AM.

However, in addition to the Heathrow departures, there's an EY departure to AUH in the morning, an EK departure to DXB at around 10AM, and an SQ departure at around noon.

Jaysit wrote:

Isn't the International terminal at Mumbai pretty much dead after 8 am and until the evening Gulf departures, the 4 mid-day nonstops to Heathrow notwithstanding?