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Air India to double Toronto-New Delhi flights from May 1
Air India also plans to start services from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jammu to various North American cities.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
April 9, 2006
India’s State-run airline Air India will double its flights from Toronto to New Delhi, it was announced on Saturday.
Air India has been operating in the Toronto-New Delhi-Toronto sector for more than a year now. Air India said the flights will be doubled from May 1.
As per plans, Air India flights will operate between Toronto and New Delhi on all days except Tuesday.
The fights will have stopovers in Amritsar and Birmingham, a top official of Air India, PK Gupta, Air India's Regional Director, USA and Canada, informed. Canada has a significant Sikh population.
The airline's flights will depart from Toronto to Delhi every day except Tuesday with brief stops in Birmingham and Amritsar, Gupta said while presenting top travel agents awards to four Indo-Canadians who generated more than a million dollar business during 2004 and 2005.
Gupta was speaking at a function to felicitate four Indo-Canadian travel agents who did business more than $ 1 million during the years 2004 and 2005.
Air India is also toying with the idea of starting direct services from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Jammu to various cities in the US, mainly North America.
This is aimed at cashing in on the strong demand of the growing Indo-Canadians in Northern America, Gupta said.
Air India is currently on a fleet expansion drive. The airline is slated to receive 65 extended range Boeing aircraft this year and early part of next year. These aircraft will drive its expansion plans.
Air India also plans to hire more staff as it embarks on its expansion drive, according to RB Chopra, Manager, Air India, Canada.
India’s other state-run airline Indian, formerly known as Indian Airlines, is also on an expansion plan.
Both the airlines are going in for an IPO soon to fund expansion plans. The government also plans to merge the airlines in the near future.
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