Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: LONDON
Programs: CX DM, BA G4L, QR PLT, EK PLT, Hyatt CourtesyC, HH DM, SQ PPS, BonvoyTit, UK, VS, UA, DL, AA
Posts: 1,715
BOM-EWR (or any NYC airport) is probably the most succesful and honestly the only feasible ULH from India to USA IMHO (possibly a west coast like SFO but the issue is too many points in India feed CX/SQ etc to SFO - it's not a single city demand).
The large gujarati community in New Jersey fills the back of the plane and the large business traffic between BOM and NYC both as commerical centers of their respective regions fills the middle and keeps a decent load on the front of the plane making it a seriously viable flight (surprised DL pulled it from NYC to ATL and then not surprisingly dropped it all together).
Honestly though, I wouldn't hold my breath for ULH's. They key is going to be hub development at a cost effective level (eg BRU for 9W - and conversely not FRA for AI where costs where too high).
Ofcourse DXB/AUH/DOH are going to dominate IMHO. Via middle east one can fly from MAA/BOM/BLR/HYD/DEL/AMD/COK/GOI/TRV/CCJ/CCU to NYC/IAD/IAH/YYZ/SFO/LAX/DFW/SEA and in some cases ORD (with EY points) - with only one middle eastern transit. While european airlines have been able to sustain metro flights in India (MAA/BOM/DEL/BLR/HYD/CCU), The regional traffic on Middle east to smaller Indian cities has enabled ME carriers to justify these routes year round and provide extreme convenience to PAX going further with far superior hub infra structure than on offer in India.
In terms of product, mileage schemes etc - I am not a fan of any of them (EK/QR/EY) but I have to admit that they provide a seriously convenient solution for many travelers and have access to cheaper fuel - giving them a serious competitive edge.