India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given the greenlight to Indian carriers to begin transpacific flights provided they meet all regulatory and operational requirements.
Air India has hailed the move which, it says, will help it improve flying times on its Delhi Int'l-San Francisco, CA route.
Quoting members of the airline's pilots corps, India's Deccan Chronicle said transiting the Pacific, while further than flying over the Arctic as it presently does, will actually result in a shorter flight given the presence of strong Jet Stream tailwinds.
"Reducing the flying time to SFO from an hour in summer to three hours in winter (due to high tailwinds then) will mean huge fuel saving. So it will be a win-win for fliers and the airline as passengers will reach San Francisco faster while the airline will burn less fuel," a senior pilot told the paper.
Air India currently serves San Francisco 3x weekly using its B777-200(LR)s.
ch-aviation.com
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