Delta Moving Nonstop India Flight Back to New York

Atlanta: A year after its launch, Delta Air Lines Inc. is moving its nonstop flight from Atlanta to Mumbai, India, back to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The flight will be moved effective Oct. 24, Delta spokesman Kent Landers told GlobalAtlanta.
Last August, the the newly announced route was heralded by economic development groups and business leaders as an important step in building ties between India and the Southeast. The flight took off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Nov. 1, 2008, carrying a Georgia trade delegation.
Three days before the maiden voyage, India's U.S. Ambassador Ronan Sen announced in Atlanta that India would open a consulate here by the end of 2009. Three weeks after the flight began, Delta temporarily suspended service because of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Top Delta leaders noted in a June 11 memo to employees that the economic downturn had caused a restructuring of the global route map for the world's largest airline. CEO Richard Anderson said Delta would cut international capacity by another 5 percent on top of the 10 percent reductions it announced last year. Nonstop flights to Shanghai, China, and Seoul will be suspended beginning Sept. 1.
For Mumbai, that meant moving the flight back to New York, where the biggest pool of customers are.
Metro Atlanta Chamber President Sam Williams told GlobalAtlanta in an e-mail that even without the Delta flights, the chamber's efforts to lure business from China, South Korea and India, will continue.
Atlanta travelers still have one-stop access to Mumbai through JFK and to Shanghai through Detroit, Delta's Mr. Landers said. Travelers really only lose a few hours by taking those transfers, he said.
25/06/09 Trevor Williams/Global Atlanta

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009, Foreign Jun 2009