Mumbai, July 10: Continental Airlines, the fifth largest airline in the US, is planning to start operations to India for the first time in its history, as the airlines, badly hit in the aftermath of September 11 and SARS, regain confidence in the Indian market. The Houston-based company plans to operate daily non-stop flights between Delhi and New Jersey beginning winter this year. It has applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for arrival slots at Delhi airport, aviation industry sources said. The airline had plans to fly into India in ’02, but it did not materialise. Only two airlines, Delta and Air-India operate on the India-US sector so far. Both fly with a stop in Europe. Continental’s entry signals the beginning of a revival in air-traffic. Airline seat capacity out of India had shrunk significantly after September 11, ’01.
United Airlines was the last American carrier to announce plans for two daily flights to India, but it cancelled the move after a global restructuring of its operations. Delta Airlines has been operating on the India-US route since 1992. Meanwhile, IATA (International Air Transport Association) figures for May show a 21% drop in international passenger traffic compared with last year, with SARS-hit Asia Pacific carriers experiencing a 50.8% drop.
North American carriers, particularly those with significant exposure to trans-Pacific routes, were also hurt by SARS as well as the lingering impact of the Iraq war and the global economic slump. International route passenger kilometres (RPKs), the barometer used to measures actual passenger traffic, for the North American carriers fell 20.6% in May. Bureau Report