Originally Posted by
oliver2002
Considering the IN-US routes are 77L service and the current cost of fuel and horrid yield on those routes I doubt AI will expand in the US even if there were no FAA directive.
The 787 will service routes of 8-10h, previously operated by A310s in the glory days. So I would expect more asian/european destinations coming up, perhaps servicing an additional *A hub or two.
Also, AI is evaluating discontinuation of FirstClass from the 77W (& possibily 744) fleet. The 77L's are already on the way out and the latest flagship- the 788 offers only Business & Economy.
This should be a welcome move, that would improve revenue generation through optimum utilization of capacity which was earlier hogged by the Mantri's / Babu's of GoI.
Originally Posted by
oliver2002
On the integration front, LH has now kicked out 9W as an option in the ticketing of the various fares to India and just uses the S2/9W flights as allowed feeders. Which is kind of good news as S2 flights were previously excluded. So the divergence on LH & co from 9W is well underway. The integration of AI is not forthcoming though, they totally cleaned up all joint fares late last summer and are not reinstating anything (yet)
Originally Posted by
hyho61
Due to the FAA downgrade, no new flights can be introduced to the US by any Indian carrier, and this includes code shares. So it is in the best interest of the Indian civil aviation authority to get the FAA issues resolved quickly. I see no new developments though, in trying to get it resolved.
Europe is the best bet for AI for new flights, may be to Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam or Rome or Milan or Manchester. Not all cities, but 1 or 2 cities among the list might work.
With AI already serving most of *A hubs in EU and Asia, once the *A membeship is effective, AI pax would have 1-stop access to almost all major NA points. A little while later, the non-stop US/Canada routes can be evaluated and be launched if the metrics seem favourable.