<p>Air India's first non-stop flight from New Delhi to San Francisco has landed here amid rousing welcome, becoming the first Indian airline to provide a direct air connection to the West Coast in the US.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Air India flight AI 173, a B777-200LR aircraft, with 230 passengers on board landed here at 5:40 AM yesterday with airport traffic control tower lit in Indian tricolor to welcome the flight to the city.<br /><br />The passengers applauded when the aircraft touched the ground.<br /><br />A number of officials from the US and India, including Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India, attended a formal ribbon cutting ceremony to mark beginning of the services.<br /><br />"It is a remarkable day and today is a great day for Air India" Ashok told the gathering at the airport.<br /><br />The city Mayor's office declared this day as 'Air India Day', a symbolic gesture to celebrate the arrival of the first direct flight from India here.<br /><br />With this non-stop flight to San Francisco from Delhi, Air India became the first domestic airline to provide a direct air connection to the West Coast.<br /><br />Air India has started three flights per week -- on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.<br /><br />Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the Silicon Valley in September had announced to connect the Silicon Valley with India through a direct flight.<br /><br />"Starting a direct flight within two months was a daunting task but we made it possible with the cooperation from US official," an Air India official said.<br /><br />Abhinav Kuru, an IT professional from Hyderabad, said the new flight will save the time as people earlier used to go to Chicago to take a flight to India.<br /><br />"This direct flight has reduced the travel time by 5-6 hours. Earlier it used to take about 23 hours but with this flight it is just 17 hours," said Kuru, one of the passengers.<br /><br />The flight offers a 3-cabin configuration, with 8 seats in First Class, 35 seats in Business Class and 195 seats in Economy Class.<br /><br />A US security official at the airport said that the Air India flight was the first flight of the day and extra arrangements were made to receive the passengers.<br /><br />"The airport immigration office opens at 7:30 AM for the first flight but we opened it today at 5:30 AM to receive passenger from India," the official said.<br /><br />Earlier, a special cake was cut just before departure at the Delhi airport to celebrate the launch of the maiden flight and passengers were presented with a rose bud each at the time of check-in.<br /><br />The national carrier had also hosted a contest on micro-blogging website Twitter prior to the launch of its new flight to the US. <br /><br />Air India operates daily non-stop flights to Chicago and New York (from New Delhi) and Newark (from Mumbai).<br /><br />Starting journey from Bengaluru, the flight will travel non-stop from Delhi to San Francisco and passengers travelling to San Francisco will undergo customs and immigration formalities at Bengaluru airport for their onward journey.<br /><br />San Francisco offers non-stop flights to more than 39 international destinations on 33 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 77 cities in the US on 13 domestic airlines. <br /></p>
<p>Air India's first non-stop flight from New Delhi to San Francisco has landed here amid rousing welcome, becoming the first Indian airline to provide a direct air connection to the West Coast in the US.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Air India flight AI 173, a B777-200LR aircraft, with 230 passengers on board landed here at 5:40 AM yesterday with airport traffic control tower lit in Indian tricolor to welcome the flight to the city.<br /><br />The passengers applauded when the aircraft touched the ground.<br /><br />A number of officials from the US and India, including Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India, attended a formal ribbon cutting ceremony to mark beginning of the services.<br /><br />"It is a remarkable day and today is a great day for Air India" Ashok told the gathering at the airport.<br /><br />The city Mayor's office declared this day as 'Air India Day', a symbolic gesture to celebrate the arrival of the first direct flight from India here.<br /><br />With this non-stop flight to San Francisco from Delhi, Air India became the first domestic airline to provide a direct air connection to the West Coast.<br /><br />Air India has started three flights per week -- on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.<br /><br />Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the Silicon Valley in September had announced to connect the Silicon Valley with India through a direct flight.<br /><br />"Starting a direct flight within two months was a daunting task but we made it possible with the cooperation from US official," an Air India official said.<br /><br />Abhinav Kuru, an IT professional from Hyderabad, said the new flight will save the time as people earlier used to go to Chicago to take a flight to India.<br /><br />"This direct flight has reduced the travel time by 5-6 hours. Earlier it used to take about 23 hours but with this flight it is just 17 hours," said Kuru, one of the passengers.<br /><br />The flight offers a 3-cabin configuration, with 8 seats in First Class, 35 seats in Business Class and 195 seats in Economy Class.<br /><br />A US security official at the airport said that the Air India flight was the first flight of the day and extra arrangements were made to receive the passengers.<br /><br />"The airport immigration office opens at 7:30 AM for the first flight but we opened it today at 5:30 AM to receive passenger from India," the official said.<br /><br />Earlier, a special cake was cut just before departure at the Delhi airport to celebrate the launch of the maiden flight and passengers were presented with a rose bud each at the time of check-in.<br /><br />The national carrier had also hosted a contest on micro-blogging website Twitter prior to the launch of its new flight to the US. <br /><br />Air India operates daily non-stop flights to Chicago and New York (from New Delhi) and Newark (from Mumbai).<br /><br />Starting journey from Bengaluru, the flight will travel non-stop from Delhi to San Francisco and passengers travelling to San Francisco will undergo customs and immigration formalities at Bengaluru airport for their onward journey.<br /><br />San Francisco offers non-stop flights to more than 39 international destinations on 33 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 77 cities in the US on 13 domestic airlines. <br /></p>