Air India is moving very fast as it prepares to resume flights from Bengaluru to San Francisco, according to media reports.
After announcing a leaseback deal with Willis Lease earlier this week that will expand its fleet by 25%, the airline will now resume flights between Bengaluru and San Francisco.
Air India to resume flights from Bengaluru to San Francisco
According to media reports, the carrier suspended flights between the two Silicon Cities in March due to poor passenger traffic caused by COVID.
The flight, which will resume at the end of October, is Air India’s longest non-stop flight. The airline reportedly plans to resume flights between the two cities twice a week this winter.
Services between India and US tech hub cities started on January 10, 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight took off with 238 passengers, 12 crew members and 4 female pilots; it covered nearly 14,000 kilometers.
Air India’s coast unobstructed
It is safe to say that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected business and many airlines, including Air India, have been hit. Demand for Indian flights to the US has also increased as the situation in both countries has improved, with many people expressing their demands via social media.
This development has also given Air India a monopoly on the route, as they still fly over Russia and are therefore the only airline able to connect Bangalore to the US.
Air India last launched the route in March, and people familiar with the airline’s surroundings cited poor demand due to the COVID-19 virus as the reason for the suspension. According to an airline official quoted by The Times of India,
“AI175 took off from Bangalore on Saturday and Tuesday, while AI176 from San Francisco landed here on Monday and Thursday. However, American Airlines’ COVID crisis and landing clearance issues disrupted the longest non-stop flight from South India to the United States. Although flights have resumed operations as the Covid-19 situation has eased, there are not enough passengers on the flight.”
However, another airline official refuted the claim. The airline chief said:
“Those flights are gearing up for a massive restart of the longest route to the U.S., which will be announced soon. “
The Times of India quoted an airline official as saying that the suspension of flights between Bengaluru and San Francisco was not because of low passenger traffic, but because of an overhaul of the airline’s Boeing 777 aircraft.