The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Southern metros to have direct air links with U.S.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 20, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

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."

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