Direct flights from Ahmedabad to Los Angeles, Dubai

Ahmedabad, May 6, 2004
(IANS)

Following the success of its direct Ahmedabad-London flight, Air-India has decided to provide a direct connection between Gujarat's principal city and Los Angeles and Dubai.

The direct flights to Los Angeles and Dubai will begin from June 11 and June 13, respectively, Air-India sources said.

Gujaratis form a sizeable constituent of the NRI community in the US and there has been a long-standing demand to increase direct flights between Ahmedabad and various American cities.

Air-India currently operates direct flights from Ahmedabad to New Jersey, Chicago and New York via Mumbai and New Delhi six times a week.

The twice-weekly flight to Los Angeles on a Boeing 400 will take the Mumbai-Frankfurt route and cover the distance in 24 hours. A one-way ticket would cost Rs. 38,165 while the return ticket would cost Rs. 59,000, taxes extra.

Ahmedabad is connected to the Middle East with a flight to Sharjah. The Dubai flight on an Airbus will run on Fridays and Sundays and will take one-and-a-half hours.

Air India has already started promotional campaigns in the city for its two new flights.

Travel agents said the response to the proposed flights was very good. The ongoing vacation season has also added to the rush, they said.

In March this year, Air-India started direct flights every Friday and Sunday connecting Ahmedabad with London.

Air-India sources said the response from the state for the London flight was tremendous, much more than they had expected.

Air-India announced a direct service from Los Angeles to Mumbai starting June 11

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Our NRI Sorces

Air-India, which has been gradually expanding its network in recent years, is all set to launch flights to the West Coast of United States. Los Angeles will be on Air-India’s network effective June 11, 2004 when flights are introduced on a thrice-weekly basis on the Mumbai-Frankfurt-Los Angeles route.

The flights will be operated with Boeing 747-400 aircraft being taken on dry lease. Air-India Board accorded its approval for dry leasing of two Boeing 747-400s at its meeting held on March 30, 2004. While the first Boeing 747-400 will be delivered in June 2004, enabling Air-India to commence flights to Los Angeles, the second Boeing will be inducted in October 2004, when Air-India will step up the frequency of flights to Los Angeles from three to five.

The new Los Angeles-Mumbai flights will be the first direct service available from the West Coast to India and it will reduce flying time to India by several hour.The flight will offer seamless connections from the same international terminal in Mumbai to Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and other cities.

Outbound flights will depart from Los Angeles International Airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal B at 7:10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, and arrive at Mumbai International Airport, Terminal II, at 3:45 a.m., two days later, local time. There will be 160 degree flat bed seats have been provided in the Business Class, and menus can be customized. Air-India is also changing its menu four times a year, and at the airports, limousine service is offered as well as meet and greet service and baggage delivery.

Air-India is offering special roundtrip introductory fares for all three classes of service: $6,499 for First Class; from $3,870 to $ 4,410 for Executive Class; and from $1,099 to $1,590 for Economy Class depending on departure date. The special fares are available from June 11 through Sept. 30, and are valid for stays up to six months. Tickets must be purchased by April 30.

The USP of these flights, as in the case of other Air-India flights operated between India-USA, will be that they will be direct and not involve change of aircraft at a transit point, as is the case with flights operated by all other airlines.

India’s national carrier has been gradually increasing its presence in Europe and USA. Air-India, which operated only 10 services a week till end 2002, now operates 20 services a week to United States and this will go up to 23 with the introduction of flights to Los Angeles in June 2004, and to 25 in October 2004, when two more flights are added on Mumbai-Frankfurt-Los Angeles sector.

Air-India’s flight schedule to US now includes a daily service on the Mumbai/Delhi-London-New York sector; a daily service on the Mumbai-Paris-Newark sector and six flights to Chicago – three via London and three via Frankfurt.