NEW DELHI – Thanks to new-age aircraft, India is getting increasingly connected to North America with long haul nonstop flights. Air Canada on Monday launched nonstop flight between Delhi and Toronto – making it the first nonstop between India and Canada and the fourth one with North America.
Air India flies direct between Delhi and New York and Chicago and United has a flight from Newark to Delhi. Air Canada has resumed its flights to India after about eight years. It earlier used to have a ‘nonstop’ on a Boeing 767 from Delhi to Toronto with a fuelling halt in Zurich.
“We recently got two Boeing 787-9 (long range Dreamliner). The first service we launched on that plane is to Delhi. Canada has a significant Indian origin population. The Delhi-Toronto service will be four times a week till next September when the flight will become a daily as we would have got more Dreamliners,” said Duncan Bureau, Air Canada’s global VP (sales).
The other service Air Canada will launch on the B 787-9 is Toronto-Dubai from Wednesday. The airline has 29 business, 21 premium economy and 237 economy class seats in this $300-million apiece aircraft. It has confirmed order for 37 Dreamliners.
“With this nonstop we are not just connecting India and Canada but India and US too. Air Canada flies to 52 American cities and Canada has pre-clearance to US. So a US-bound passenger can clear US immigration and customs on arrival in Canada and then fly on to America as a domestic passenger. This is a big advantage Air Canada offers,” said Bureau. The airline will have Wi-Fi on its long haul aircraft in the next 12 to 18 months.
Air Canada, a member of Star Alliance, is not looking at more Indian cities as its first focus is to convert the four-times-week to a daily on the Delhi-Toronto route. Delhi makes sense for the airline as it is the gateway airport to Punjab, a state with a huge presence in Canada.
