Officers from Atlanta airport lately engaged with business leaders in India to debate, amongst different issues, attainable direct connections to the town from India. The talks come at a time when there’s renewed curiosity in rising flight frequency between the 2 international locations from varied airways, most notably Air India. However whereas a number of US-India airport mixtures have been thought of lately, Atlanta has largely been ignored.
Push for direct flights
Final month, officers from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta Worldwide Airport (ATL) visited India to debate commerce alternatives and, presumably, having continuous connections to the town from India.
The four-day India Aerospace Mission, led by the US Worldwide Commerce Administration, was attended by Atlanta airport’s Basic Supervisor Balram Bheodari, Deputy Basic Supervisor and Chief Industrial Officer J’Aimeka Farrell, and Worldwide Affairs Director Alrene Barr, who joined 15 organizations visiting the cities of Delhi and Hyderabad.
ATL officers spoke with leaders of Indian airways lately. Photograph: Getty Photos
In keeping with International Atlanta, the go to included ATL officers assembly a number of individuals from the business, such because the GMR Group, an infrastructure firm that additionally offers with MRO amenities, in addition to government leaders for a number of India-based airways to debate mutual development alternatives.
The case for India-Atlanta flights
Atlanta is residence to greater than 100,000 individuals of Indian origin, however there is no such thing as a direct flight linking the town to India, regardless of sturdy requests for years.
Whereas airways are linking a number of US locations with India, Atlanta has not acquired the identical degree of consideration. Might or not it’s that they’ve been dissuaded by Delta’s earlier try at working continuous flights between Atlanta and Mumbai (BOM)?
In August 2008, Delta Air Traces introduced a brand new every day continuous flight between ATL and BOM. The just about 18-hour flight entered service in November that 12 months, however simply over six months later, it pulled the continuous route.
Delta Air Traces briefly had a continuous flight between Atlanta and Mumbai. Photograph: Getty Photos
The airline stated that call to cease the service was because of low passenger demand and the “illegally sponsored Center East carriers” that plagued the service’s competitors and made operations nearly inconceivable in opposition to far decrease costs. When it returned to India ten years later, it selected New York (JFK) as an alternative of Atlanta for a continuous connection.
Nothing within the pipeline
However a lot has modified since 2008, together with a renewed choice for continuous flights after the pandemic. Air India, United, and American Airways are all eyeing extra flights between the 2 international locations, however Atlanta hasn’t featured on the checklist to date.
American and United collectively already supply direct providers to New York (JFK and EWR), Chicago (ORD), and San Francisco (SFO), and their future plans embody different west coast locations corresponding to Seattle (SEA).
Even Air India, which lately added 20 further flights to the UK and US, included six extra flights to SFO, along with its current providers to New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC (IAD).
Anybody touring from ATL to India has to rely primarily on Center East airways or connections from Europe, corresponding to Frankfurt (FRA), however that would change as soon as Air India strengthens its fleet within the coming years.
With extra fuel-efficient long-range jets just like the Airbus A350 anticipated to hitch its fleet as a part of its bigger growth program, AI might be anticipated to contemplate Atlanta as a vacation spot with aggressive fares. Maybe the most recent assembly between the ATL and India officers might act as a catalyst to begin direct flights to the town sooner fairly than later.
Do you suppose Indian and US carriers ought to begin direct providers to Atlanta? Please share your opinions within the remark part.
Source: International Atlanta