Press Trust of India

BANGALORE, Sep 2: National carrier Air India will soon start a direct flight from Bangalore to San Francisco, the 'Silicon Valley' of the US, the airline's chairman and managing director V Thulasidas said on Saturday.

"The flight connecting the IT hub to Silicon Valley will be launched sometime next year," Thulasidas, who is also President of Aeronautical Society of India, said on the sidelines of signing an MoU between ASI and Royal Aeronautical Society of the UK.

He said Air India has just concluded its merger with Indian Airlines. Though the new company is called of National Company of India Ltd (NACIL), it would operate under the brand name of Air India.

"Bangalore is going to become a strong base for Air India and we have already acquired land near the city for the purpose. We are very bullish about Bangalore in terms of airline business", he said.

Air India, with a combined fleet of 112, will induct 25 aircraft, 16 of which have already been delivered, he said.

To a query on Alliance Air, the low-cost subsidiary of Indian Airlines, he said 'it will be phased out in due course'.

He said the services of low-cost carrier Air India Express, which operates 16 aircraft on international routes, would be extended to the domestic market by September-end.

"We are evaluating Thiruvanathapuram-Delhi, Delhi-Kolkata routes for the domestic market," Thulasidas said, adding, initially two aircraft would operate on domestic routes.

There would be an average discount of 25 per cent on the airfares, he said.

On the international arena, Air India Express, which is operating only in the Gulf region at present, would launch flights connecting Kolkata to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok soon, he said.

"We will be connecting Kolkota to Dhaka later and are also looking at Maldives, Central Asian republics and Phuket (in Bangkok) in the long run," Thulasidas said.