Hyderabdad: The grounding of Air India's Dreamliner fleet has hampered the much awaited proposal of direct flight connectivity between India and Australia, a top Australian diplomat has said. Direct flight service is essential between the two countries as in and out-bound tourist traffic is increasing with each passing year, said Lachlan Strahan, the deputy head of mission at Australian high commission in New Delhi.
"India said it would launch direct flights from New Delhi to Melbourne and Sydney three or four times a week. They were planning to use Dreamliners and they had some problems with battery (of Dreamliner) and were grounded," Strahan said.
"India has not indicated when they are going to start the operations. As per schedule, they are supposed to start by the end of March," the diplomat said here on Saturday evening.
03/02/13 Daily News & Analysis
