Air India announces first direct B'luru-San Francisco flight from Jan 11

Frequent flyers between Bengaluru and the United States can rejoice. Air India has announced its first direct flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco, beginning January 11, 2021.

To be operated twice a week, this will be the first non-stop flight between the city and the US. It is seen as a much sought after air connectivity between two major tech hubs of the world — the original Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley of India.

The first non-stop flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco is a significant milestone for the Kempegowda International Airport and will transform it as the new gateway to India. This will tremendously help passengers, enabling faster and easier access to cities on the West Coast of the United States, a BIAL spokesperson said.

The new non-stop service is expected to meet the demand of corporate customers for travel to SFO and adjoining areas in the US.

Air India plans to operate a 238-seater Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft to serve the largest unserved international origin/destination (O/D) market for KIA. Bengaluru and San Francisco are ranked first and second, respectively, among the world’s top 45 digitally advanced cities.

New route sets two records

The new route sets two records — it would be Air India’s longest route at 14,000+ km (8,698 miles) and the longest flight to and from India (over 16 hours). The national carrier has opened ticket booking from November 25, 2020.

United Airlines had announced earlier that it would launch a non-stop flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco from the summer of 2021.

Chicago has the second-highest population of Indian-Americans in the United States.

“Service from San Francisco to Bengaluru connects two international technology hubs, broadening United's west coast service to India, which also includes San Francisco to New Delhi,” the airline had said.