Air India proposes world's longest non stop flight

Air India on Friday said it will start a new tri-weekly Hyderabad-San Francisco flight via New Delhi from next week.The flight will travel non-stop from New Delhi to San Francisco and passengers headed to the US city will undergo all customs and immigration formalities at Hyderabad airport itself for their onward journey, the national carrier said in a statement. Flight AI-127 (a B777-300ER Boeing aircraft) from Hyderabad to New Delhi will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 2105 hours and arrive in the national capital at 2315 hours.Flight AI-173 to San Francisco will leave New Delhi on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 0235 hours and will be operated with B777-200LR aircraft. It will arrive in San Francisco at 0600 hours (local time) the same day.The return flight will depart at 1030 hours and arrive at New Delhi the



next day (Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays).It will leave at 1740 hours for Hyderabad, where it will land at 1955 hours, the statement said.A Rambabu, Station Manager of Air India in Hyderabad, said the flight has the advantage of convenient timings.He said San Francisco is Air India's fourth direct destination in the US.The existing destinations are New York, Newark and Chicago."The introduction of non-stop flight between Delhi and San Francisco paves the way for most awaited and well sought after connectivity between Silicon Valley (home to tech majors startups) and Hyderabad, a prominent IT hub in India," Rambabu said.Passengers will have huge benefits travelling to San Francisco as they will undergo immigration and customs checks at their boarding points itself and can have comfortable journey further, the statement added.