Air India's Melbourne route hangs on Dreamliners

Delhi: Direct flights to Melbourne are ''a priority'' for Air India, as the embattled government carrier prepares to take delivery of new planes it hopes can turn around its flagging fortunes.
The long-promised, oft-delayed direct route between India and Australia has been mooted for years, but hampered by regulation (the Civil Aviation Ministry refused the airline permission) and resources (a lack of long-haul planes owned by the carrier).
But with government approval and the first of 27 Dreamliner 787s set to be delivered to Air India by Boeing in October, launching a direct Delhi-Melbourne route is back under serious consideration. ''Melbourne is a priority,'' chief information officer Kamaljit Rattan told BusinessDay. ''We have the green light … to fly to Melbourne. But a final date has not yet been set.''
Air India plans to fly daily from Delhi to Melbourne and flights from Mumbai and Chennai have been flagged.
The 259-seat, wide-body Dreamliners will be used for Air India's medium and long-haul flights. Australia has been earmarked as a likely route for the planes, or their use on medium-haul flights will free up 777s for the longer trip to Australia.
No airlines fly directly from India to Australia and the Indian government twice rejected Air India's plans to launch the service last year. But under pressure from unions, the Civil Aviation Ministry reversed its decision in February. Mr Rattan said the airline was confident the route would be profitable.
13/07/11 Ben Doherty/Sydney Morning Herald

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Categories: Air India Jul 2011, Foreign Jul 2011