Air India has introduced a non-stop flight from New Delhi to Amritsar in Punjab and Amritsar to Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The inaugural flight was flagged off from Amritsar airport by Vijay Sampla, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the presence of other dignitaries including Pankaj Srivastava, Director, Air India along with Shwait Malik and Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Member of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha respectively. The direct flight is scheduled to operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Amritsar-Delhi route. The Dreamliner aircraft AI 117 will take off from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 11:20 am and is scheduled to reach Amritsar at 12:25 am. After a break, the flight will then depart from Amritsar at 1:55 pm and is scheduled to reach Birmingham at 5:15 pm. The return flight will take off from Birmingham at 6:45 pm and reach Amritsar the next day at 7:45 am. After a brief break, the flight will depart for Amritsar at 9:15 am and will arrive at Delhi at 10:30 am. Source: ANI
Read More »Pankaj Srivastava receives DDP Trailblazer award
Pankaj Srivastava, Commercial Director & Board Member, Air India, bagged the DDP Trailblazer award. Having joined Indian Airlines as Management Trainee after completing MBA, he is now responsible for ground handling, strategy and planning, sales and marketing, inflight services and cargo with Air India. Additionally, he is a Board Member of Alliance Air, Air India Express and Air India Airport Transport Services. With more than three decades of experience in aviation, Srivastava held some significant portfolios in his career including Staff Officer to CMD, Indian Airlines; Regional Director for Middle East and Executive Director – Sales & Marketing. He has been responsible for starting Gulf Flight Operations for Indian Airlines.
Read More »Air India finalises Stockholm as Scandinavian route
Air India has finally disclosed the final Scandinavian destination for its new flight from Delhi—Stockholm. Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India, revealed, “As of now, it’s quite possible that we will be flying to Stockholm. Most probably, the operations for the same will start from August 15. However, there is little work left on the same, and hopefully we would be able to make an official statement for the same in the next one week.”
Read More »Air India explores newer destinations in North America
India’s national carrier Air India is looking to add new routes between India and North America. Speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2017 in Mumbai, Pankaj Srivastava, Director Commercial, Air India, revealed, “We want to expand in North America and are exploring new routes like Houston and Dallas. We currently cut down travel time between the two continents by at least 10 hours.” He added, “There will also be a tenth destination in Europe soon. We are thinking of Scandinavia, and looking at either Glasgow or Copenhagen as options. We are also looking at increasing our flights into Australia and intend to take it to five flights into Sydney and five into Melbourne.”
Read More »Air India sets record with longest non-stop flight
Air India set a record with its longest non-stop flight from Delhi to San Francisco. The Boeing 777-200 long range aircraft took the Pacific route instead of the Atlantic route, adding an additional 1400 km to the route but was completed in 14 and a half hours, two hours lesser than the conventional flight due to the helpful tailwinds. “From October 15, the flight which connected Delhi and San Francisco via the Atlantic route has begun operations on the Pacific route and returns on the Atlantic route, making it the only flight that goes around the world,” says Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial and Board Member, Air India. This route also saved around 13 tons of fuel. Air India currently operates flights on the Delhi-San Francisco route three times a week but its growing popularity has prompted the airline to double this from November, flying east each time for the next six months. Inputs from: The Telegraph UK
Read More »Amritsar-Toronto on Air India in 2017
Air India is going to begin its Amritsar-Toronto operations in 2017 via Birmingham, said Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial, Air India. Air India will also connect Delhi with Washington D.C. next year. Srivastava said, “We have grown substantially on the international network. In the last one year we have added 4 new networks to our operations which are operated on Dreamliners. Delhi-Madrid will begin operations from December 1 this year. Under the regional connectivity scheme, we are already planning operations to connect the Tier III and Tier II cities on Air India.” He also informed that Air India has managed to focus on its deeds and improve its services which has turned around their profits and recently the company posted a profit of RS 105 crores.
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