Air India offering incentives for new San Francisco-Delhi flights

India’s national carrier Air India is set to launch its first-ever nonstop flights to San Francisco from New Delhi starting from December 2, 2015. The airline officials revealed the news at a press conference held recently. To mark the launch of the new route the airline has decided to offer incentives aimed at attracting flight bookings in a big way.

The airline officials amid the presence of many Indian American community leaders during the press conference announced the customers can utilize this opportunity to book promotional roundtrip tickets, which would be available only for a few days after the launch of the new service. The offer can be availed for travel in economy class.

Air India has also decided to run a promotion for customers purchasing tickets in first class or taking business class flights from New Delhi to San Francisco. The roundtrip tickets for travel in either premium cabins would be valid for travel effective from December 2, 2015 until January 31, 2016. The airline will be also offering a free roundtrip executive class ticket to its premium customers for travel on its domestic network as part of its promotional campaign.

According to a spokesperson of Air India, the new flights between San Francisco and New Delhi will be operated thrice weekly on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The airline will deploy a Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft to serve the route. The aircraft will be configured in three classes – 8 seats in first class, 35 business class seats and 195 seats in economy class. The flight will depart from San Francisco at 10 am (PST) and arrive in New Delhi at 3.35 pm (IST). The return flight will depart from New Delhi at 2.45 am (IST) and arrive in San Francisco at 6 am (PST). The distance between the two destinations is 7,700 miles and the flight duration will be of nearly 17 hours.

San Francisco will now become Air India’s fourth destination in the United States. The other three destinations in the U.S. where the airline is offering nonstop flights services include New York JFK, Chicago O’Hare and Newark Liberty.