Air India begins non-stop weekly flight from Hyderabad to Chicago
The Hyderabad International Airport received its first-ever, non-stop flight of Air India - AI-108 – from Chicago in the early hours of 15 January around 1 am. The aircraft had 237 passengers and 16 crew.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 15 Jan 2021 10:29 AM GMT
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad International Airport received its first-ever, non-stop flight of Air India - AI-108 – from Chicago in the early hours of 15 January around 1 am. The aircraft had 237 passengers and 16 crew. Later in the day, the same aircraft – a Boeing 777LR - with flight no. AI-107 took off from Hyderabad to Chicago with 226 passengers at around 12.50 pm amid much fanfare and a celebratory note at the airport.
The flight AI-107 from Hyderabad to Chicago will operate once a week every Friday, departing from Hyderabad at 12.50 pm (IST) and will arrive in Chicago at 6.05 pm (CST/Local US time) on the same day. The return flight AI-108 from Chicago to Hyderabad will operate every Wednesday leaving Chicago at 9.30 pm (CST/Local US Time) and will arrive at Hyderabad at 1.40 pm (IST). Air India will be operating a B777-200LR aircraft and will cover 13,293 km in 16 hours.
The senior officials from GMR Hyderabad International Airport along with Air India staff and other airport stakeholders were present at the terminal to see off the passengers and crew. A similar warm reception was also given to the passengers in Chicago which included a cake cutting ceremony intermeshed with cultural events and photo opportunity with all social distancing protocols in place.
"This new non-stop route connecting Hyderabad and Chicago has been on our connectivity wish list for quite some time and we are delighted that it is our very own national carrier Air India that has commenced this service. The launch of this route brings the two destinations closer for all our passengers who have been waiting eagerly for a direct flight from Hyderabad to the USA. We are constantly working on linking more cities domestic and international with a focus on high standards of safety to serve our passengers," said Pradeep Panicker, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
"The connection with Hyderabad will generate an estimated $22 million per year in economic impact for Chicago, in addition to serving Chicago's large south asian population, the second-largest in the USA," said, Jamie L. Rhee, CDA Commissioner.
The Hyderabad-USA-Hyderabad route has been the largest unserved market with over 7,40,000 passengers waiting for air services. Hyderabad is a gateway to South and Central India, and a preferred largest transit hub. It offers convenient proximity for passengers originating from the nearby cities, viz. Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Rajahmundry, Bhopal, and Tirupati among others with an additional demand of approximately 220,000 passengers annually.
The Telugu diaspora from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh regions is one of the fastest-growing communities in the USA. As per some estimates, every 4th student traveling abroad for studies from India is from the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. India is the 2nd largest source country for foreign students going to the USA each year.
