DELHI to NEWARK flight
 

I understand that Continental's flight between Delhi and Newark may have to either make a stop en route to refuel or restrict the number of passengers and/or freight. I believe the flight is operated by a B777-200.

I understand that while the outbound flight to Delhi doesn't experience these issus, the return flight does.

I'm planning to return from Delhi to Newark in mid-July so I wasn't sure whether any one out there has experience with headwinds on this route. Are the headwinds particularly strong in July or is this only an issue during November-March timeframe, as I've heard a few people comment.

Just trying to avoid getting stuck in Delhi.

Regards

As a revenue passenger you probably don't need to worry about getting stuck there. If for some reason the flight is overbooked or weight restricted, the airline will usually re-accommodate you on another carrier on the same day and provide you with some sort of compensation for your trouble.

CO's DEL-EWR makes very very few diversions. It's within range even in the middle of winter. This past winter, only time it MAY have diverted was Jan 16. The 4/9 flight went to Gander, but I can't remember the reason.

In short, not an issue. I have not heard of restricted load on this route, so you won't get stuck in DEL. They just make a fuel stop in Goose Bay, Gander or somewhere.

In fact, CO is starting BOM-EWR this winter, which has even longer flight time.

standby status
 

I will be on a non-revenue ticket from another airline. I was told that many of the flights may have to stop somewhere in Canada, but in those cases, they do not let non-revenues board. Herein lay my concern. I have no way of looking into passenger boarding totals so really I don't even know whether the flights are overbooked.

For what it is worth, July is the low season to India. You should call CO, explain your situation and find out what you can about the flight loads on your date. There are very few last minute travelers in/out of India so even this far out, you will have a good sense of how full the flight is on your specific date.

To answer one of your original questions, the reason it is an issue on the westbound but not the eatsbound is because of the way the winds blow. Flying West you're giong in to the wind, so the flight is longer/slower and burns more fuel. I've never heard anyone say that this flight is weight restricted at all. They load it to the gills pretty much every day when they can.

And as others have posted above, this flight does NOT divert for extra fuel as a matter of habit. I don't know where you got the other information from, but I don't think it is accurate.

Now the mumbai flight will be another issue.

What is the routing for the flight EWR-DEL...what countries do they fly over?

Really? I was always told summer was peak season, second only to Christmas time.

Scandinavia, then Estonia (usually), Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan (fixed route almost directly over Kabul, I believe), Pakistan, then India.

Nope. It is painfully hot in Delhi in July. The temperature doesn't come down until October/November, which is when high season starts, lasting through to February/March.

For a minute, I was sure that you were describing Houston! :D

It has actually been hotter in NYC than DEL for many days of the past few weeks. But we have air conditioning here, so that helps. Not quite as pervasive there.

Do most flights to DEL that originate in USA or Europe fly over Afghanistan?
Why do they do that?
Is it safe to fly over those hotspots?

Don't know about Europe flight, but those from the US, yes.

I posted this in 2005:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...1&postcount=35

Looking at today's CO82 and AA292, they're also using the same A66 and A466 air routes from Kazakhstan to India.

Why? That's the shortest and fastest route! The westbound flights at the range limit of the 772ERs, so they don't have any other choice to make these non-stop.

I don't see what the problem is flying at ~40K feet over Afghanistan.

DL16 takes a more southerly route going to Mumbai. It overflies western Europe, Turkey, Iran, out to Arabian Sea to BOM. I assume CO's new EWR-BOM flight will do the same.