National carrier Air India would fly non-stop from here to Chicago, USA, starting from January 15, the Hyderabad International Airport announced on Wednesday.
Prior to the suspension of international operations in late March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the disinvestment-bound Air India was operating to Chicago from the city airport via Delhi.
Air India would be starting the flight between Hyderabad and Chicago effective January 15, 2021, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd said in a press release.
The airline would deploy its 238-seater Boeing 777-200 aircraft with eight seats in first class,35 in business, and the remaining 195 in the economy class, the release said.
The Telugu diaspora from the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh regions is one of the fastest-growing communities in the US and direct connectivity to the US from Hyderabad was long due, it said.
Hyderabad-USA-Hyderabad has been the largest unserved passenger origin and destination (O&D) market between India and the US with a potential of over 7,00,000 passengers annually, the release said.
With the city being the gateway to South and Central India, it offers convenient proximity for passengers originating from the nearby cities in the region, pushing an additional demand of approximately 2,20,000 passengers annually, it said.
The launch of this route brings two destinations closer for all our passengers who have been waiting eagerly for a direct flight from Hyderabad to the USA. We are constantly working on linking more cities domestic and international with a focus on high standards of safety to serve our passengers,” said CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd., Pradeep Panicker, Hyderabad is a second home to many US-based companies and as much as 70 percent of the total IT exports to the US is from Hyderabad, said the release, adding that the city is known as the Pharma Capital of India and a vaccine manufacturing hub of India.
