Vancouver could see a new, non-stop plane service to Delhi

Vancouver: A young, splashy airline from India wants to launch non-stop flights from Delhi to Vancouver that would cut travel time on this popular route by as much as 10 hours.
Indo-Canadian business leaders welcomed early news of this interest by Mumbai-based Kingfisher Airlines. In May, many of them pilloried Air Canada for ending all its flights to India so that it could boost them to China.
Kingfisher is owned by United Breweries Group, a family-run beer and liquor empire headed by Vijay Mallya, who is often described as India's Richard Branson. Forbes magazine estimates his current net worth at $1.5 billion and he made headlines this year in Europe after buying Scotch whisky maker Whyte & Mackay and becoming a joint owner of the Dutch Spyker Formula One racing team.
The Vancouver Sun sent an e-mail to Mallaya's direct account at UB Group as well as a media relations officer, but both were unanswered by deadline on Monday. Premier Campbell, who met with Mallya on Monday as part of his trade mission in India, was also unavailable.
At the moment, going from Vancouver to India involves flying first to cities in Asia (Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo) or Europe (Frankfurt, Brussels, Amsterdam) before connecting on to India.
"Whichever way you go, it can take between 22 to 25 hours to get there," said John Korenic, marketing director at YVR. "I have done it. It is quite an arduous trip."
Kingfisher's non-stop flight would mean just a 15-hour journey. "Once you start non-stop operations, you very much stimulate the market" in terms of both tourism and trade, said Korenic. "It's so much easier flying on a non-stop. There is enormous opportunity."
03/12/07 Joanne Lee-Young/Vancouver Sun, Canada

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Foreign Dec 2007, Kingfisher Dec 2007, New Dec 2007