Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Indians in America has had a growing preference for direct connectivity to India over itineraries with connecting flights via Europe or Middle East. Evidencing this fact are their continued efforts in demand for nonstop flights to India from the cities like Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Boston, Houston and Dallas – which are not yet among Air India’s destinations in the United States.
While hopes are pinned on Air India waiting to induct advanced aircraft from Airbus and Boeing for the most anticipated launch of new direct routes between USA and India, some government officials from India have initiated a talk with Delta Airlines for its comeback to the US-India travel corridor. Recently, the state government of Telangana invited Delta Airlines to make Hyderabad its destination for technological investments and nonstop flights from Atlanta, USA.
Sridhar Babu, Telangana’s Minister for IT, Communications, Industries, and Commerce, held a meeting with the senior leadership of Delta Airlines, with a proposal for Atlanta to Hyderabad direct flights. Delta’s VP & CTO Narayanan Krishnakumar, along with the airline’s account executive for global sales, Alexandra Rodriguez, attended the meeting with the delegation from Telangana. The meeting took place at the Indian Consulate in Atlanta, Georgia.
At present, no airline is flying directly from Atlanta to India, or from Hyderabad to USA. Air India’s nonstop service from Chicago ORD to Hyderabad continues to be deferred, and it shows no sign of a possible comeback. Ideally, the Atlanta to Hyderabad market is highly commercial for Delta Airlines (in fact, most airlines) to cash in on the demand for direct flights.
Airlines operating flights to Hyderabad from Atlanta
Currently, Lufthansa, British Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways are the major airlines flying to Hyderabad from Atlanta. Both cities are a good source of passenger traffic for each other given these airlines’ current frequency of one-stop flights on this route. Lufthansa alone operates 5 weekly service to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, HYD. Check out Indian Eagle’s best deals for Atlanta to India flight itineraries.
United Airlines and Air India operate this route on a code-sharing basis. Their joint itineraries have two layovers: Chicago ORD in USA and Delhi in India. Also, United Airlines connects Atlanta to Emirates flights from Chicago to HYD via Dubai as they are codeshare partners. But two-stop itineraries have certain disadvantages for family travelers and senior citizens traveling alone.
Will Delta Airlines start direct flights from USA to Hyderabad?
Telangana government’s proposal to Delta for nonstop Atlanta-Hyderabad service has an uncertain future as long as the Russian airspace is restricted to the US carriers. The airspace restriction that remains in place due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict did not let Delta Airlines resume its New York to Mumbai service after a period of suspension during the pandemic. The same is the reason for continued suspension of United Airlines flights to New Delhi from Chicago and San Francisco.
“Undeniably, Indian immigrants of Georgia, USA deserve nonstop flights from Atlanta to India. Their multiple petitions to Air India and the government of India did not make the cut in the past few years. Today, Atlanta and its neighboring areas including Forsyth county are home to a rapidly growing Indian community. Especially, the Telugu-speaking populace of Metro Atlanta has doubled in the past decade. Hope, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines would take Telangana government’s proposal into consideration,” said the chief air-ticketing officer of Indian Eagle.
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