"Of course it is a challenge. But we are confident to meet them by augmenting our services, as well as, introducing a new air route between Hong Kong and Chennai," Air India's regional director for Far East, southeast Asia and Australia, GD Vyas said.

Mr Vyas, who is based in Hong Kong, said this when asked to comment on the introduction of direct flights, between Hong Kong and New Delhi four times a week by Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific from March 26 and another daily non-stop flight to Delhi by US' United Airlines from April 1.

Both United Airlines and Cathay Pacific are offering passengers to Delhi double frequent flier points and convenient connections to other major destinations.

Mr Vyas said "we have chalked out a plan to face increasing competition", adding India's national carrier, would soon increase its weekly frequency from the current five to nine.

"We are watching the market and will take whatever measures to face competition," he said, pointing out that Air India would be the first airline to start a direct flight between Hong Kong and Chennai that could attract many non-resident south Indians in Hong Kong, as well as those in the United States and elsewhere. Mr Vyas said that the Hong Kong-Delhi-Mumbai route is heavily booked, only during 13 weeks out of the 52 weeks in a year. Cathay already operates four flights to Mumbai via Bangkok.

With the introduction of additional flights on the Hong Kong-Delhi route, seats are expected to be readily available throughout the year, he said.

According to Cathay, New Delhi is an important addition to Cathay's passenger network and would help further strengthen Hong Kong's place as Asia's leading aviation centre.

"We are delighted our long-cherished plans to fly between Hong Kong and New Delhi can now become reality," said Cathay Pacific's deputy chairman and chief executive David Turnbull.

"We believe there is tremendous demand on this route and we are confident this will become one of the most popular services in our network," he said in a release.

Commenting on the introduction of direct non-stop flights to New Delhi, a senior official of the Consulate General of India in Hong Kong said ,the consulate was excited by the added capacity to Hong Kong.

(PTI)