The
international travel can be on direct or indirect
flights. Direct flights do not require a change
of plane and may or may not be non-stop. Indirect
flights entail a change of plane en route. Direct
flights tend to be quicker but more expensive.
Direct Flights
Direct flights do not require a change of plane
and may or may not be non-stop. They tend to
be quicker but more expensive than indirect
flights.
British Airways, Air India and Virgin Atlantic
operate direct flights to India. Of these British
Airways has the largest number of flights with
daily connections to Delhi and Mumbai, three
flights a week to Kolkata and two to Chennai.
All British Airways flights are direct non-stop
and it is possible to land at one port and return
from another.
Air India has the next largest number of flights
and also covers the four metro cities and other
cities including Trivandrum, Cochin, Hyderabad,
Ahmedabad, Goa and Bangalore. Flights to Delhi,
Mumbai and Ahmedabad are direct while those
to other destinations are indirect.
Virgin Atlantic operates daily flights to Delhi
and three a week to Mumbai, all direct non-stop.
Flying time to Delhi or Mumbai, from London,
on a direct non-stop flight of say, British
Airways or Air India, is about 9 hours. The
direct flights to Chennai or Kolkata take about
10 hours. The return flights take slightly longer
because of headwinds.
Indirect Flights
For indirect flights the European carriers offer
a good option of a short hop to the Continent
followed by the long haul to the Subcontinent.
These include Air France, Lufthansa, KLM, Austrian
Airways, etc. These take between 11 to 12 hours
to Delhi or Mumbai, including the transit time
and slightly longer to Chennai or Bangalore.
There is further choice of indirect flights
among Middle-Eastern carriers including Emirates,
Qatar, Gulf Air, Royal Jordanian & Kuwait
Airways. Here the change of aircraft takes place
midway in the journey and the total time taken
is 13 to 15 hours. One advantage of these carriers
is the option of taking a stopover in the Middle
East in places such as Dubai, Doha or Amman.
Our airline choices
Because of its coverage, reliability and frequency
of flights, we use British Airways for our group
tours landing in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Kolkata.
For independent travellers we use a variety
of carriers, as best suited to the tour.
For the South India tours landing in Cochin
or Trivandrum, the Middle-Eastern carriers offer
the best connections, in particular Emirates,
Qatar, Kuwait and Gulf Air.
For tailor-made holidays we use the clients'
preferred airline. We are happy to suggest the
most suitable carrier.
|
