AI's non-stop flight between New Delhi-NY from '08

After successfully launching Mumbai- New York non-stop flight, newly merged Air India will launch a non-stop flight between New Delhi and New York from January 2008, Indian Chairman and Managing Director Vishwapati Trivedi said on Saturday.

"The new entity will launch non-stop flight between New Delhi and New York in January," Trivedi told reporters after inaugurating a newly renovated reservation office of air carrier Indian.

He said soon direct flights for Haj pilgrims will be launched from Indore to cater to the demand of the people of the region.

Referring to delays in flight operations, he said it was mainly due to air congestion and non-availability of parking space at airports and to address these problems the government is mulling to start parking facility at airports like Bhopal, Indore and Lucknow among others.

International air-cargo facility was also started from Indore for sending consignments to far-off destinations.

After the merger of Indian and Air India the strength of the national carrier will increase to face competition from private airlines, Trivedi added.

With entry of private players in the airline sector, network integration will be a major advantage for passengers as they would be able to fly from Jamnagar to Frankfurt without any problem, he said.

On providing connectivity to Madhya Pradesh with major cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad, Trivedi said work is going on in that direction and the service will be possible with the availability of new planes for which the airline has already placed orders.