Air India Chief in Chicago Jude Crasto (center)
Addressing a meet of ethnic media and leading travel agents at Gaylord India Restaurant in Schaumburg, a north side Chicago suburb, he said that the latest Boeing 777 aircraft would fly between O’Hare, Terminal 5, which is one of the latest and most modern airport buildings in the US and the newly established state of the art Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi
From the coming winter schedule, he said Air India had pulled out all stops between USA/Canada and India. There would be, he added, daily non-stop flights from New York (JFK and Newark), Chicago and Toronto. These flights would fly non-stop from New Delhi with immediate connections to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Amritsar and many other cities, while the daily flight from/to New York (Newark Liberty International Airport) will operate non-stop to/from Mumbai with immediate connections to Ahmedabad and other cities.
This is yet another positive step by Air India to facilitate travel between the world’s two largest democracies. All flights have convenient departure and arrival times and offer immediate connecting flights to all major destinations in India. Similarly, departure from the North American gateways allows passengers traveling from interior cities many connecting flights for departures and arrivals.
The new schedule offers reduced travel time and will stimulate business and leisure markets of India and the USA. From Chicago, Castro pointed out that the flights depart at 3:45 pm (2:45 pm in winter) and arrive at the convenient time of 5:00 pm into New Delhi. Using the connecting flights at T3, passengers can reach most major destinations the same day.
New connections, he added, were offered to Kolkata and Amritsar; while passengers to Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi would have only one stop to reach their destinations. All connections offer the facility to clear Customs and Immigration formalities at destinations.
A daily arrival at 7:00 am (6:00 am in winter) into Chicago should make it extremely convenient for passengers getting connecting flight to interior cities in USA.
New fleet of the latest Boeing 777 aircraft offers lie-flat seats in both First and Executive classes facilitating passengers to reach their destinations comfortably. In every class each seat offers a wider pitch personal television screen. In-flight entertainment includes latest English as well as Hindi and other popular Indian regional languages. The in-flight award winning gourmet cuisine consists of a fine selection of spirits and beverages and the passengers are offered a choice depending on religious, dietary or special requirements.
The world’s newest international terminal at Delhi offers passengers a new experience at check-in and in-transit arrangements because of short processing time and speedy clearance.
With a capacity to handle 34 million passengers annually, there are 48 boarding gates, 78 aerobridges, 168 check-in and 95 immigration counters. Complimentary shuttles are available between International and Domestic terminals.
There are facilities for duty-free shopping and recreation for passengers traveling with children and for those having special needs.
A very interesting and exploratory video presentation of this latest and one of the most modern airports gave a detailed visual explanation.
After a brief question and answer session with Castro, who offered appropriate explanations to the questions by the Agents/Media, the meeting concluded with a vote of thanks.
Surendra Ullal
