When will American carriers start flying to DEL again?
 

Ever since Northwest and United canceled their flights to DEL the only options are through European carriers (with Swissair being a risk! and SAS having a bad schedule -you have to stay in CPH for a day) and Middle-Eastern/Asian.

I thought that DEL was a good destination for flights originating in the US as most flights (at least the ones I took) were always full and there is a big Indian community here in the US.

Does any1 remember if after Pan Am folded there was a time with no American carriers going to DEL? I don't remember if NW took the routes immediately afterwards.

NorthWest connecting with KLM in Amsterdam has a very good schedule to Delhi, if you fly on Saturday to Delhi and return on a Sunday from Delhi.

In addition to NW/KL, BA, LH, and AF have excellent schedules to DEL. BA 142/143 is a daily service and connects really well with most US flights. I believe AF service is also daily.

My guess is that UA cancelled their service to DEL because they were intending the nonstop out of Chicago, and that would necessitate them overflying Central Asian airspace.

I know it was a very profitable route for them so I'm thinking they'll probably restore it soon.

The other alternative is Delta or NW's flights into Bombay. I've had better luck with the DL service

Are you sure about this? All of the discussion on the United Board mentioned how unprofitable this flight was for United - particularly the HKG-DEL route.

They introduced service to DEL several years ago and had to drop it then because it wasn't workable. Didn't sound like they were doing much better this time around.

It had to do with traffic restrictions between HKG and Delhi I believe (the Indian gov wouldn't let them sell enough tickets). DL has the permission to do the flight but FRA wont give them a proper slot. I believe a decision is coming in MArch or so.

Right, sorry for not being clear -- the HKG-DEL sector wasn't working for them, but they liked the route on the westbound side, were expecting the nonstop to do quite well.

There are several options via Pacific, including but not limited to Singapore, JAL, Thai, Korean, Asiana etc.

Due to the 20% flight reduction by United, the ORD-DEL non-stop got axed because the flight hadn't even started and there were not enough bookings on it. I had a booking on it for Dec-Jan travel and the most of the seats were wide open even during the peak season.