The Hindu Business Line : Delta to launch Chennai to New York flights via Paris

DELTA Air Lines Inc, the American carrier, plans to introduce daily direct services between Chennai and New York through Paris beginning May 11. Delta will be the first American carrier to operate services to Chennai. Mr Dieter Hofele, General Manager - India, Delta Air Lines, told presspersons today that the airline had been planning to connect Chennai for some time.

Market research shows that the southern markets are underserved with just two European carriers — Lufthansa and British Airways — offering direct connections to the UK and Europe. Passengers have had to connect to destinations in the US through either London or Frankfurt or opt to use the Mumbai or Delhi gateway airports. Mr Rodney D'Cruz, Sales Manager - India, said that there was a lot of traffic from this region to the US, which the airline plans to tap. The region also has ethnic and business links with the US, he said. (The airline has traffic rights to operate to Delhi and Kolkata also.)

The service between Chennai and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport through Paris-Charles de Gaulle will be operated with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

The flight will depart Chennai at 2.30 a.m. and reach Paris at 9.40 a.m. (local time) and New York at 3.55 p.m. (local time).

The flight will leave New York at 6.30 a.m. and arrive at Paris at 7.55 a.m. (local time) and reach Chennai at 12.30 p.m.

The airline offers its passengers from India 14 flights from Mumbai via Paris to New York. An additional daily seasonal service is currently being operated for the winter months from Mumbai to New York via Frankfurt.

Mr Hofele said that passengers would connect to destinations across Europe, Africa, Latin America and the US.

From Paris, Delta together with its Sky Team Alliance partner, Air France, offers customers a choice of destinations in Europe. Delta offers daily flights to 487 destinations in 88 countries on Delta, Delta Shuttle, Delta Connection and Song, its low fare service.

Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services.