Coimbatore: Frequent fliers to the US from the region have shot off a letter to Air India, demanding evening flights to the city from New Delhi and back.
While the country has created an air travel arrangement with the US, only Air India is flying to that country that too from New Delhi.
Given the timing of flights to the national capital from the city, many exporters and professionals in the region say they are forced to wait 13 hours at the Delhi airport to take the flight to the US at 4am. To take the return flight to the city from New Delhi after landing from the US, there is a 16-hour layover.
Manoj Kumar, a city resident who is planning to fly to San Francisco in November-end for a month-long trip, has no other option but to choose Air India to reach Delhi. “Only United Airlines and Air India are flying, and I had to choose Sunday, because Air India is operating direct flights to New Delhi from the city only five days a week. During my journey to the US and way back, I need to stop in New Delhi for 13 and 16 hours, respectively.”
Frequent fliers between the two countries say it would be very helpful if Air India operates late evening flights between the city and New Delhi. “If we have a flight that departs from New Delhi at 5pm or 6pm and reaches the city at 9pm, it would help people flying in from the US or Europe. And if we have a flight that departs to New Delhi from the city at 6.30pm and reaches there at 9.30pm or 10pm, it will reduce the layover to a large extent,” says Varun Dharam, a city-based lawyer, who flies to the US regularly.
R Girija, Air India station manager, says she has received the letters and is in talks with the headquarters. “We are operating only at 70% capacity and trying to bunch multiple flights into a single trip. So, there are some issues in operating a new evening flight. But we have forwarded the letters to the headquarters and asked if something could be done to make the New Delhi connection more convenient.”