Air India today announced three-days-a-week non-stop Delhi-San Francisco flight from December 2 even as some airline officials said this proposal was yet to be cleared by the airline's board of directors.
Also, they said an economic feasibility study has not been conducted till now though the airline went ahead with the announcement to coincide with World Tourism Day.
The new flight will be a first between Delhi and the West Coast of the United States and AI expects passengers from other Indian cities to come to Delhi via the Air India network for their journey onward to SFO.
"The flight will be a boon to the Indian diaspora on the US West coast. It will make travel easy and convenient for students and parents of NRIs... ," AI said in a statement.
But why does Air India want to expand international operations, which have typically bled it dry? It is the longest serving legacy Indian carrier flying to marquee destinations abroad but its domestic operations have been earning far better.
According to data between April 2014 and January this year, the airline deployed just a fourth of its capacity on domestic routes but these flights generated 40% of its total revenues.
In fact, domestic yields (which means revenue per passenger) were much higher at over Rs 6 when international yields languished at around Rs 3.50. So the question that begs an answer is: A non-stop flight to SFO will sure raise the glamour quotient of the airline but will it again help AI financially?
28/09/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post
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Also, they said an economic feasibility study has not been conducted till now though the airline went ahead with the announcement to coincide with World Tourism Day.
The new flight will be a first between Delhi and the West Coast of the United States and AI expects passengers from other Indian cities to come to Delhi via the Air India network for their journey onward to SFO.
"The flight will be a boon to the Indian diaspora on the US West coast. It will make travel easy and convenient for students and parents of NRIs... ," AI said in a statement.
But why does Air India want to expand international operations, which have typically bled it dry? It is the longest serving legacy Indian carrier flying to marquee destinations abroad but its domestic operations have been earning far better.
According to data between April 2014 and January this year, the airline deployed just a fourth of its capacity on domestic routes but these flights generated 40% of its total revenues.
In fact, domestic yields (which means revenue per passenger) were much higher at over Rs 6 when international yields languished at around Rs 3.50. So the question that begs an answer is: A non-stop flight to SFO will sure raise the glamour quotient of the airline but will it again help AI financially?
28/09/15 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post
