Delta to fly non-stop to Mumbai from 2019

Delta Air Lines will begin nonstop flights between Newark and Mumbai in 2019, the US airline announced on Thursday. Delta has said it plans to expand its existing codeshare agreement with partner Jet Airways to provide seamless connections to other destinations in India. At present, Air India and United Airlines operate non-stop flights between Mumbai and Newark. Delta has not indicated the point of origin in the US in its announcement.

The move allows Delta and Jet Airways to expand traffic on the India-US route. Currently, Jet Airways does not have nonstop service and instead offers one-stop flights via its European hubs in Amsterdam, Paris and London. “It is exciting to announce Delta’s return to

India from the US as part of our vision to expand reach globally,” said Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian. “We are looking forward to providing customers in the US and India with Delta’s famously reliable, customer-focused service operated by the best employees in the industry,” he said. The announcement follows agreements among the US, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to address the issue of government subsidies provided to state-owned carriers in those nations. The framework created by the agreement allows Delta to move forward

with the service to India, a market long impacted by government-subsidised Middle East Airlines. This will mark a return to India for Delta, which was forced to exit the market after the subsidised airline made services economically unviable.