``Work on the airport should commence at the earliest,'' he said at the inaugural ceremony of the direct flight to New York from the City Airport on Saturday morning.

There was no point in delaying the project. ``If the Tatas are still expressing doubts about it, please don't delay it for them. There are many more corporate houses keen to invest in the prestigious project,'' he added.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar said that with the introduction of the New York flight, the Ministry had succeeded in completing 360-degree connectivity to City Airport. The weekly service will be operated via Mumbai on Saturdays with state-of-art Boeing 747-400 aircraft, equipped with latest in-flight gadgetry, including the sky-phone.

``The passengers destined for Bangalore will leave New York on Thursdaysand after transiting Mumbai, will arrive in Bangalore on Saturday morning. In addition, Air India will continue to offer two more services a week from Bangalore to New York on Tuesdays and Fridays with change of aircraft at Mumbai, and from New York to Bangalore on Tuesdays and Saturdays,'' he said.

After Delhi and Mumbai, Bangalore is the third city to introduce a jumbo flight. The flight via Mumbai and London will take 22 hours to reach New York (including ground hours), Ananth Kumar said.

Captain Seshadri said that as a Kannadiga, it was his privilege and honour to pilot the first direct flight from the city to New York.

Lok Sabha members C K Jaffer Sharief, M Sreenivas, Minister of State for Home R Roshan Baig and Air India Managing Director Michael Mascarenhnas also spoke on the occasion.