Air India’s San Francisco flight resumes after 8 months

BENGALURU: Air India has resumed its non-stop flight connecting Bengaluru and San Francisco from Friday. The flight will operate thrice a week on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays, with the Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. The airline launched its first direct flight between the cities on January 9, 2021, (from the US) and operated its last flight in March 2022.

AI 175 left Bengaluru at 2.20 pm on Friday and will reach San Francisco at 5 pm local time the same day. The first return flight AI 176 will leave San Francisco on December 2 at 9 pm and reach Bengaluru on December 4 at 4.25 am, said an official release.

The direct distance between the two cities is approximately 13,993 km and they are diametrically at opposite ends of the world, with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours. “The total flight time on this route will be of more than 17 hours, depending on the wind speed on that particular day. The route for this flight will be the safest, fastest and most economical,” the release added.

This will take Air India’s India-US frequency to 37 non-stop flights a week. At present, the airline operates non-stop flights from Delhi to New  York, Newark, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Chicago and from Mumbai to Newark.