The Hindu Business Line : Air India resumes service to Toronto

Air India has also expanded the destinations and frequency of flights to the United Kingdom by operating the resumed service to Toronto via Birmingham.

TO TORONTO, AGAIN: The Minister for Tourism, Ms Renuka Chowdhury, with the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, at the launch of Air India's Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight in the Capital on Sunday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , May 15

AIR India (AI) has resumed its service to Toronto, the financial capital of Canada, after a gap of eight years.

Air India has also expanded the destinations and frequency of flights to the United Kingdom by operating the resumed service to Toronto via Birmingham in the UK.

AI had in the past operated flights on the Mumbai- Delhi-Amritsar-Moscow-Birmingham route. This was however discontinued in October 1984.

The Tourism Minister, Ms Renuka Choudhury, and the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, flagged off the inaugural New Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday. Mr Patel later boarded the flight.

AI is to operate the service three times a week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) with a Boeing 777-200 ER

The resumption of service to Birmingham would result in an increase in the number of flights operated to the UK by the airline from 18 to 21 in a week.

"With the launch of these new flights, AI will provide to the people of Punjab direct and convenient services to Birmingham, the heartland of industrial and economic activity in Britain, and to Toronto," said Mr V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India.

The airline also intends to launch from June 18 three more flights on the Delhi-Dhaka-Kolkata-London sector, thereby taking the total number of flights to Britain to 24 a week.

This would double the capacity offered by AI on the India-Britain route in the past six months, Mr Thulasidas said.

At Amritsar, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Amarinder Singh, flagged off the inaugural flight at the Raja Sansi International Airport.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the resumption of service was a matter of great pride for Punjab and hoped that this would boost business and tourism in and around the State.

On the upgradation of the Raja Sansi airport to international standards, Mr Singh said that the process was already on and would be completed soon.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, said that the resumption of flight to Birmingham and Toronto fulfilled the long-standing demand of the people of Punjab. He also made an assurance that the airport modernisation and extension work would not be delayed.

Meanwhile, Mr Patel also launched a special service - `Swagat Seva' — at the IGI airport for providing help to foreign tourists.

Ms Chowdhury said that the `Swagat Seva' would progressively be implemented in Mumbai and other international airports.

This has been evolved on the lines of `Marhaba' (welcome) service in Dubai.

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