STIR - HIT AI READY TO SPREAD ITS WINGS

IBNLive.com

New Delhi,India :  After operating on a truncated schedule for more than three months, country’s national carrier Air India (AI) is set to resume full operations. Destinations like Hong Kong, Seoul and New York which were suspended following the 59-day long strike of the pilots will be reopened soon.

The airline will also be activating its entire fleet of Boeing 777s. These aircraft were grounded after the pilots’ strike crippled AI’s operations. The national carrier currently has 20 Boeing 777s including eight 777 LRs (Long Range) and 12777 ERs (Extended Range), which will be pressed back into service.

“We will begin our services on routes like Hong King, Seoul, Osaka in the first phase starting August 21 which will be followed by operations to New York, Frankfurt and Paris,” a senior AI official said.

“We are badly hit in East Asia sector. Hong Kong was the worst hit. We had very good passenger loadand revenue coming in from this sector which mainly accounts for tourists and business travellers, that is why reactivation of these services had become a priority for us,” the official said.

After East Asia, Europe services will be reactivated, first to Frankfurt on September 1 and then to New York from September 4. The airline said it is also going to increase frequency on its New Delhi-Paris and Mumbai-London flights. The operations are now going to be daily between these cities.

14/08/2012 :  DNA Correspondent / DNA

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