Mumbai and Kolkata on UA
 

United Airlines Takes the Fast Track to India with New Daily Non-Stop Service Linking Chicago with New Delhi

Unique Service Provides Only Non-Stop Flight from The U.S.

CHICAGO, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (NYSE: UAL - news) announced today that it will launch non-stop daily service between Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, on October 27, 2001. The addition makes United the only airline that flies nonstop between the United States and India, and offers customers some of the fastest travel times between major cities in the two countries. The new flights will be available for sale Thursday, August 16, 2001.

In addition to meeting the needs of business and leisure travelers in Chicago, the new service will be the fastest way to reach New Delhi from many cities across North America, including the East Coast. Using convenient connections through Chicago O'Hare, United's largest airport and hometown hub, customers on the East Coast will find the Chicago connection quicker and more convenient than traveling eastbound to India via Europe. Additionally, United's unique flight schedule has an early departure from the U.S., allowing for same-day connections to many major cities in India including Mumbai (Bombay) and Kolkata (Calcutta). The return flight schedule from New Delhi will provide one of the only daylight departures to the United States, with plenty of time for customers to connect in New Delhi from major business centers in India.

``India is a dynamic and fast-growing country which has been under-served from the U.S. These new flights will provide tremendous opportunities for both local and connecting customers,'' said Rono Dutta, president of United Airlines. ``We're excited about linking our primary hub airport at Chicago with New Delhi, and opening up India to the whole U.S.''

United will offer Boeing 747-400 three-class service, featuring a configuration of 14 state-of-the-art United First Suites, 73 seats in United Business, 88 seats in United Economy Plus and 172 seats in United Economy. The new flight will cover nearly 7,500 miles across the polar route that United Airlines helped pioneer.

As a result of the new non-stop service, United Airlines will withdraw service between Hong Kong and New Delhi and between London and New Delhi.

``Our ultimate goal has always been to serve India non-stop from the United States,'' added Dutta. ``Connecting service via London and Hong Kong has been popular with customers, however regulatory restrictions in Hong Kong have made the route difficult to operate. The new non-stop route opens up tremendous opportunities for travelers and we believe that the service will be very successful.''

The company said operation of the new flight would be subject to certain governmental approvals.

United flight UA 992 will depart Chicago O'Hare at 3:40 p.m., arriving in New Delhi at 5:25 p.m., the following day. The return flight, UA 991, will depart New Delhi at 11:15 a.m. and arrive in Chicago at 2:50 p.m. The planned flying time from Chicago to New Delhi will be 14 hours and 15 minutes, while the planned flying time from New Delhi to Chicago will be 15 hours and 5 minutes.

I'm planning my first trip to India. I have been reading, watching, listening and noting anything to do with this country, and this is the first time I have heard the use of Mumbai and Kolkata for Bombay and Calcutta.

Would any more experienced travelers care to explain?

Thank you.

india changed the name of bombay to mumbai a few yrs ago. didn't pick up on the calcutta change, never been there. this is a nationalism thing [perhaps] 50 yrs after the raj. a story has been circulated that might be true that a survey asked various indians what they thought the effect of the british was on the country? an extremely large % said " who are the british?" . india is a large and populous country. i met an indian national [ working in the us ] who said his grand father had worked for the india gov't for some yrs before 1947 & had never met a british person. this is all anecdotal , but i think might be in perspective. other city name changes include the return to st. petersburg in russia & many in africa. i hope i have cast no aspersions, its just a story....... edit. wife & i went on ten day tour 10 or so yrs ago, delhi, agra, & 4 other cities before bombay. havent got back yet.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 08-14-2001).]

Thanks, clacko.

Please let me know when you and your wife get back from your tour! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Bombay = Mumbai (Mumbai is the original pre british name)

Madras = Chennai (the local Tamil name of the city)

Calcutta = Kolkata ( the Bengali spelling and pronounciation of Calcutta)

There is generally a move on in India to change names bac to their original or local version from the names given by the British.

[This message has been edited by indogulf (edited 08-18-2001).]

i was born in Bombay-- i understood that there was not bombay or mumbai-- there were 7 islands given by the portuguese to the british as a dowry for catherine of braganza--(i may have the names wrong) bom is beautiful beautiful bay-- the maharashtrains called it mumbai-- i think that name came later-- its crazy to change the name-- the british raj was part of our history-- you cant erase it by changing names--i still cll it bombay-- thats the city i was born in. my 2 cents worth