Air India's US ops to fetch Rs 3,300 crore

Air India, which recently launched a direct flight between New Delhi and New York, said it expected to earn more than Rs 3,300 crore from the India-US sector in the current financial year, a company official said.

The airline said it earned Rs 2,615 crore from the sector in the last financial year. The airline has 38 weekly flights to four destinations in the US. It also operates code share flights with Singapore Airlines from Singapore to San Francisco/Los Angeles.

“As the India-US sector is Air India’s largest revenue earner with enormous growth potential, it will continue to be Air India’s major thrust area for growth in the coming years. The region will witness further growth in capacity induction,” said Jitender Bhargava, the airline’s executive director.

The airline plans to introduce non-stop flights between Bangalore and San Francisco around August, he added. The airline, formed by merging the former Air India and Indian Airlines last year, has ordered 111 new aircraft for its international and domestic routes.