NEW DELHI: It would be a race against time for Air India to begin the first nonstop flight to US, as scheduled, from August 1. Two of the Boeing 777-200 long range aircraft that will be used on this route are now expected to be delivered to the airline only on July 25 and 26. They would reach Delhi amid much fanfare on July 27 and then be sent to Mumbai for preparations of an ultra comfortable flight, AI is promising on this sector.

Interestingly, the first new-generation Airbus A-321 – painted in the livery of the merged AI-IA combine replete with in-flight entertainment systems and AI written on it – was delivered to Indian Airlines some days back. It had its first commercial flight from Mumbai to Delhi on Tuesday. While it is the first of its kind plane in the national airlines’ fleet that boasts of IFE, no official launch was done as the government wants a grand common unveiling ceremony for the Boeing 777, A-321 and a freighter in the new livery later this month.

The plane will be used on the Delhi-Mumbai-Trivandrum sector. So far, only Kingfisher has a plane with IFE and IA has become the second carrier to boast of it. IA had ordered 20 A-321s in the order for 43 Airbus. The rest of the order is for four A-320s and 19 A-319s.

Meanwhile after years of using aged planes, AI is training its guns on making its nonstop flight to US on the new-gen Boeing 777-200 a big success. It has tied up with an exclusive lounge at JFK Airport where first and business class passengers would have the facility for a shower and head straight to work. This plane’s schedule arrival time in NY is 7.15 AM.

“The first class would have just eight seats, all aisle and widest in the category. The 35 business class seats will also be fully flat. Most importantly, the 195 economy seats will also have wide seats with comfortable aisle space. This plane will have the most advanced IFE,” AI CMD V Thulasidas said.

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