| AI to link Bangalore with Silicon Valley. |
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 Long suffering Air India loyalists flying between India and the US will soon have option of forgoing layovers in Europe and East Asia with the introduction of several direct, non stop flights between the two countries over the next few months.With the delivery of new Boeing 777 Long Range planes at the rate of on every two months starting July-August, Air India will go head to head against US carriers such as Continental, American and Delta, which already have direct, non-stops between the two countries. The first of Air India's new 777s will fly nonstop between New York's JFK and New Delhi starting August, and the second will link JFK to Mumbai. The third route to be introduced later this year or early 2008 will link San Francisco, hub for the Silicon Valley, with Bangalore, India's Silicon Plateau. This direct non-stop will muscle into a heavily trafficked route currently dominated by Lufthansa, whose flight via Frankfurt is dubbed the "Bangalore Express" because it shuttles techies between the two IT hubs. Air India CMD V thulasidas told correctspondents in Seattle on Friday that in due course, Air India would also introduce direct flights between Washington DC and New Delhi, and Chicago and Hyderabad. The airline is also examining linking other Indian cities such as Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Kochi and appropriate US cities. Asked why Air India should be introducing direct flights out of the New York area when US carriers already had a head start, Thulasidas said the New York hub was still the most lucrative one because of the heavy business travel. Air India currently has two flights a day to the area (to JFK and Newark Liberty, both with European lay-overs), and direct, non-stop flights would thrive on this growing traffic. "Economics, not politics, goes into our decisions," Thulasidas said when it was suggested that a Washington DC-New Delhi flight might have been more logical given the political significance of linking the two captials and the government traffic, besides the existing competition from New York. Air India's plans to enhance its US operation, which brings in nearly 40 percent of its international revenues, stems from the single largest order of planes in its history. An airline that has never ordered more than 6-8 planes at a time is now gearing up to take delivery of 68 planes worth more than $ 10 billion over the next few months. The order includes a mix of short-haul 737s, long range 777s and the newly introduced 787 Dreamliners. "We want to bring back the glory days of Air India," said Thulasidas, echoing a sentiment that has often been thwarted by Governmental interference and endemic sarkari sloth. "This time only economics matters, not politics."
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