Atlanta (TAN): Come December 22, United States-based carrier Delta Air Lines will fly nonstop from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Indian city of Mumbai.
The financial capitals of the two countries are expected to benefit from the service. The airline said that the demand for flights between India and the United States has ‘increased significantly in the last decade’, with New York being the ‘largest U.S. market to India with the largest base of corporate customers’. The new flight could also help passengers from Canada and Latin America.
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Delta’s Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said: “Delta’s nonstop service between New York and Mumbai is the latest example of our international growth as we strive to connect the world better than any other airline.”
“This route would not be possible without the administration’s ongoing efforts to enforce fair competition in international travel, ensuring that consumers enjoy a wide range of choices as they travel the globe,” he added.
Delta will deploy a newly renovated Boeing 777-200LR to serve the route.
The new service was launched following agreements between the United States and governments of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to ‘address Open Skies-violating government subsidies to state-owned carriers’.
Although Delta had started operating flights between the United States and Mumbai in 2006, it ‘was forced to suspend the service in 2009 as illegally subsidized Middle East carriers made the route untenable’, the airline said.
“Subsidies pose a serious threat to American workers. Every long-haul route lost or foregone to subsidized Middle East carrier competition costs more than 1,500 American jobs, so we are pleased to bring this route back into service thanks to landmark agreements the Trump administration reached with Qatar and the U.A.E.,” said Delta’s Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Peter Carter.
The airline said the new flight will be ‘operated out of Delta’s premier international gateway at New York-JFK’.
