Travel between the United States and India may soon become significantly easier and cheaper, thanks to an open-skies agreement inked by the two countries, the BBC is reporting today. Under the current regulated regime, all Indo-American flights must originate or end in Delhi or Bombay (Mumbai), leaving out the high-tech hub of Bangalore and many key travel gateways. Bay-area outsourcing geeks have been especially bummed by the restrictions, which often translate into a 30-hour journey. Meanwhile, a similar deal between India and the UK will double the number of direct flights between the two countries.
Already, US carriers are jumping to get in on the new action, with Delta proposing flights to Madras via Paris, Northwest hoping to hop from homeport Minneapolis to Bangalore through Amsterdam, and Continental doing Newark-Delhi nonstop. No word yet on a direct Hollywood-to-Bollywood flight, though that may not really be necessary.
India and US in 'open skies' deal [BBC Online]
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Posted
Apr 14 2005, 09:50 AM
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Gridskipper: Minneapolis
Filed under: MINNEAPOLIS, Paris, Flights, Bangalore, Delta Air Lines, Amsterdam, Delhi, mumbai, continental airlines, madras, northwest airlines, general info: getting there, erik d'amato