Air India gears up for non-stop flight to New York
Air India is all set to commence non-stop flights to New York from Mumbai starting August 1 and has already started selling seats for this, reports Lalatendu Mishra.
Air India is all set to commence non-stop flights to New York from Mumbai starting August 1 and has already started selling seats for this. The service will be operated by a brand new Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, scheduled to arrive in Mumbai from Seattle towards the end of July.
This would the first long haul aircraft to be delivered to Air India from the 68 new aircraft on order. It is after 13 years that Air India is buying a new aircraft. So far Boeing has delivered seven B 737-800s, which have been deployed with budget carrier Air India Express.
“This will be the first time that an Indian carrier will fly non stop to the US. There are international carriers that offer such a service, but there is no comparison between their services and the one that we will provide. The seats of the planes flying long haul often cause discomfort but the B-777-200-LR is designed for long haul flights,” said Air India's chairman and managing director V Thulasidas.
The aircraft is in three class configurations having 8 first class seats, 35 in executive class and 195 in the economy class.
A first class return ticket would cost Rs 4.59 lakh while there are two slabs for executive class tickets. The J class return is priced at Rs 2.67 lakh, while the C class would cost Rs 2.25 lakh. There are four categories in the economy class and the lowest return fare is Rs 54,700 and the highest Rs 80,700.
“The non-stop flight is ideal for business travel, since a person can leave India in the night, sleep on the plane in comfort and then reach New York the next morning after a 15 hour flight.” Thulasidas said. “We look upon this non-stop flight as a premium product and we are geared up to make it the best possible service in the market.”
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