Lesser flying time for Indians to US

Mumabi: For Indian travellers flying to the US, the alliance between Continental Airlines and United Airlines translates into lesser flying time and better connectivity to all US destinations, but analysts expect rates to go up on certain routes as a result of the merger.
Competitors of the merged entity, however, are expected to see a drop in passenger loads on their flights between the US and India, which are usually routed through hubs. For instance, Emirates routes its US-bound passengers through Dubai. Globally, in terms of pecking order, the consolidation pushes Delta-Northwest to the second spot in terms of revenue passenger miles (RPM: product of number of fare paying passengers and number of miles flown), the industry's accepted measure for gauging airline size. While United and Continental together did 203 billion RPM in 2009, Delta (combined with Northwest) logged 189 billion RPM.
"It will be a formidable union, a force to reckon with, for international airlines in India, Europe and the Middle East. Through their excellent hubs in New Jersey, New York, Chicago they can funnel traffic from India to any point in the US," an aviation analyst, told TOI. Currently, Continental operates ultra long-haul flights to Newark from Mumbai and Delhi (five days a week). Air India directly connects New York from these two cities with daily non-stop flights.
04/05/10 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Foreign May 2010