AI to fly North Pole region via Delhi-SFO

The first commercial service will be operated by Captain Ranjeesh Sharma and Captain Digvijay Singh, marking the “maturing of civil aviation in India as another frontier is crossed,” said Air India Western Region Director Mukesh Bhatia.

Air India had conquered this frontier in 2007, when Captain Amitabh Singh – currently, Director (Operations), flew a Boeing 777 over the polar region. He had taken delivery of the brand new aircraft and flew it over the North Pole from Seattle to New Delhi, going in the record books as the first Indian pilot to notch this feat.

“Passengers will benefit from the reduced fuel consumption and a better environment from the reduced carbon emissions,” Bhatia said on the new Polar flight route. Air India is in a unique position to offer direct (non-stop) flights between India and North America, but the Polar route between the two countries has not yet been exploited.

“Situated on opposite sides of the Northern Hemisphere, India and North America would benefit immensely by using existing North Polar routes for commercial air operations,” Bhatia added. The AI already has flights to the US from the Atlantic and Pacific routes as part of its endeavour to conserve fuel, slash travel time, improve aircraft utility and reduce carbon emissions.