USAsian asks for daily Air India flights for Indian cities
Press Trust of India / Washington Aug 27, 2009, 09:12 IST
An advocacy group of Indian and Asian American has asked Air India to start its daily flight service between Washington and Indian cities.
The proposed daily flight has been in the pipeline for some time now, for which the federal authorities have given the necessary license, but Air India has been unable to start the service as the state-owned airline is struggling for its survival, said Devasish Ray, Executive Director of USAsian.
"After careful research and analysis we are convinced that it would be profitable for Air India to operate flights from Washington Dulles International Airport to key cities in India," Ray said.
"Dulles airport transports close to 2,000 passengers on eight airlines and the passenger revenue amounts to approximately $1,235,000 daily," he said.
Air India's two daily flights from New York, which lands by 7.30 AM and leave by 9.30 PM (local time) the same day, sit idle and incur unnecessary parking fees amounting to nearly $10,000 per aircraft, he said.
"By rerouting the flights via Washington DC, not only will Air India save on parking expenses but also generate additional passenger revenue from Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC area," he said, adding that the region has seen substantial increase in Indian population in recent years.
"Washington DC would also be more accessible for passengers from the South corridor of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida," Ray said.
Air India as such has a very bad reputation. For the past month, travellers from US to southern Indian cities have not been receiving their checked baggage at the destination and they had to go to the airport for a second time to pick up the baggage. Even if AI introduce more flights, I think passengers will opt for other airlines such as Qatar Airways, Emirates, and the (new) Etihad.
jose
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