Air India to launch direct flight between B'luru and San Francisco from January 11

Bengaluru: Passengers from Bengaluru can soon fly non-stop to San Francisco as national carrier Air India is set to launch a bi-weekly service, scheduled to commence from January 11, 2021.

This would be the first non-stop flight between Bengaluru and the United States, connecting the world’s two tech hubs the original Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley of India, Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru,said in a release.

This is a significant milestone for Bengaluru Airport and would transform the city as the new gateway to India, it said, adding that it would tremendously help passengers, enabling faster and easier access to cities on the West Coast of the United States.

The new non-stop service is expected to meet the demand of corporate customers for travel to San Francisco and adjoining areas in the US.

Air India plans to operate a 238-seater Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft to serve the largest unserved international origin/ destination (O/D) market for Bengaluru Airport, it said,adding that Bengaluru and San Francisco are ranked first and second among the worlds top 45 digitally advanced cities.

The new route sets two records it would be Air Indias longest route at 14,000+ km (8,698 miles) and longest flight to and from India (over 16 hours).

The national carrier has opened ticket booking from November 25, 2020, the release added.