After United, Delta, American, and Northwest, yet another US airline is making a beeline for Indian skies. Houston-based Continental Airlines, the world’s sixth-largest airline, said it would launch daily non-stop flights between New Delhi and New York from November 1. By flying non-stop, passengers would save at least two hours west-bound and two-and-a-half hours eastward, Jim Summerford, Continental’s vice-president Europe, Middle East and Africa told reporters on Wednesday. With the total flight time around 16 hours westward and 14 hours east-bound, the flights will be operated on the airline’s 283-seat flagship Boeing 777. The airline has a two-class configuration with 48 seats in the BusinessFirst cabin and 235 in economy, he said. Continental has scheduled the departure from New Delhi at 11.30 pm, arriving at New York at 4.50 am the next day and the return flight at 9.05 pm with arrival in New Delhi at 9.30 pm the next day, but it needs government approval for these timings. However, the airline receiving the United States and Indian governments’ nod to fly through this route in 2003 is not related to the open sky policy to be signed later this month between the two countries, Summerford said. According to Summerford, the 349-fleet strong Continental offers same-terminal connectivity via 402 daily flights to 170 cities throughout the Americas. Besides, passengers can also avail immigration and customs facilities at its terminal, he said. Continental expects 80,000 passengers one way on its flights and 75 per cent of the total load factor in this route in the first year of operations. The airline did not divulge details on the airfares, but said they would be competitively priced.
