I'm familiar with the AA ORD-DEL and Continental EWR-DEL. Are there any other non-stops from the US, current and/or planned? I'm especially interested in an ORD-BOM route. Thanks,

DL JFK-BOM just started this month.

Air India I believe is planning nonstop flights from DEL and BOM starting summer 2007 on B777-200LR aircraft. Don't know if ORD is on the agenda though.

Heard rumors that there will be ATL-BOM

Ugh, Air India.

The Jimmy Carter of airlines.

More seriously, having transited BOM and DEL many times, I think I choose BOM as a much less screwed up airport.

Air India is not the Jimmy Carter of airlines; that is, Air India isn't anywhere near as popular with Indians and the rest of the world as Jimmy Carter.

I'd agree, at least seasonally, that BOM "works" more consistently. However, other than for specific times of the year and dates of the week, BOM has much more twisted issues in play than DEL. Corruption-related problems and criminal activity at and around BOM airport are leagues worse than around DEL airport itself. The upside to BOM (international) is that there are multiple decent international-branded hotels very nearby (e.g., the Sheraton and the Hyatt right next to each other) which are a very short distance away (i.e., even walkable if someone knew their way and was otherwise rather confident, but best taken using transport vehicle -- especially if with luggage).

I also have more stories to tell about BOM landside transfers than I have to tell about DEL landside transfers -- bizarre traffic block-ups being amongst the issues.

orruption is extremely rampant at BOM --- especially if you are a young male/female...I had to give the customs officer $25 to let a NEW IPOD thru....

Now, I have a friend whose neigher is the ex-chief of Customs at BOM -- so I just call him, tell him I am coming and he has a guy on the inside waiting for me and we just walk right thru...

The question is about direct flight and we should answer that. If you don't know just shut up.

There is a serious problem with some of the very old members of this forum. They are never to the point. Why every link has to be their chatting session wandering far from the original topic? If you want to discuss Air India or curruption you can very well open another link or there might already be a link where these are being duscussed. Thanks.

To answer your question MKE the only direct flight to India are Continental and American Airlines who have just launched launched non-stop services to Delhi from New York and Chicago respectively. Air India has none yet. They are still thinking.

CO and AA have been operating EWR-DEL and ORD-DEL non-stops for just over a year now.
I agree with your sentiment in general, but one of the posters, is very knowledgeable, if not the most knowledgable about India. Only a minute percentage4 of his posts are off topic, and even then they are informative and well thought out. As to the others talking abouit corruption at customs and all, I agree it is completely off topic and in no way informative.

The answer was already given. Want this thread locked now too?

That some want to disparagingly discuss FTers is amusing, especially as it's off-topic and is not even a response to factual items in a post. I make no apologies for responding to items in a post in a topic, particularly as it has to do with information related to a post in the thread. If someone doesn't want informative posts and threads and wants topics to be locked up upon a answer that covers the OP question, that's their business -- but this is not the place for discussing FTers, nor is that the standard around here .... thankfully.

The information you stated was stated earlier, including by "old members of this forum". Does disparagingly discussing that someone is rehashing already stated information or disparagingly discussing "new members" "old members" "middle-age members" in this topic add any value to this topic? No.

Serious problems of the sort which you think exist are best brought up elsewhere .... not here. Thanks.

AA, CO and DL are just about it for now, with the former two going to DEL (from ORD and EWR, respectively) and the latter to BOM (from JFK).

Should all those who know and don't know now stop posting?

Air India may launch a non-stop service to the United States in early 2007, when the national carrier takes delivery of its first 3 B777-200LR aircraft from Boeing Company.

"The service is likely to start by February 2007. Air India is exploring the option of starting non-stop service from New Delhi or Mumbai to New York or Chicago," a source said.

Air India is acquiring 8 777-200LR Worldliners as part of its proposed acquisition of 68 aircraft from Boeing for an estimated $8.1 billion.......

This is from Jan 2006. Reads more at

http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/jan/30ai.htm

Will post if I find anything more on this.

The 777-200LRs do open up possibilities -- much the same reason why PIA (Pakistan) and EVA (Philippines) are big on them. (PIA has at least one IIRC.) Some think that Boeing's 777-300ERs on order by Jet Airways will be somewhat delayed (with the first couple deliveries scheduled for around the same time as Air India's earlier deliveries), and so I'm curious if there's any related chance that the 777-200LRs AI has on order will be delayed too.

AI could probably do well enough with a BLR-SFO routing, especially if they are part of Star Alliance. That said, it's usually the DEL/BOM to NY/NJ that are first amongst the thoughts of AI.

Yaatri, I fully appreciate your sentiments. My comment was not for a specific member. It was just an observation from several different threads.

There is a difference between discussing and raising an issue/concern. The concern has to be raised right where the act happens not somwhere else, where as off-topic information can be exchanged at other places too...

This is not a right attitude towards other FTers, especially those who post a question to get needed information or legitimate views and not a chain of off-topic posts which may be informative but are irrelevant to him.

Since I have already wasted some space here with this off topic post, I will not reply to any further post in response to mine.

Observations "from several different threads", talk about bringing in outside topics.

"My comment was not for a specific member", instead it was meant to be about a specific member.

Given these words of yours, I don't see why you are complaining about my posts in this thread (or even others for that matter )

I agree, and that's why I said "nor is that the standard around here .... thankfully."

You may think they are not relevant to the OP or others in the forum, but they could still be relevant to the topic and items posted in the topic. If we applied the kind of standard implicit in your above words, locking up threads would be the systematic result upon OP request or upon someone determining an answer has been supplied. Fortunately, that is not the result.

Some people will prefer non-stop flights to BOM more than DEL or vice versa, for different reasons -- and some of that may deal with local airport-related issues and things you deem "off-topic" but that may help with travel planning.

If you mean Eva Air, that's out of Taiwan.

Will