The state-of-the-art 238-seater Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft, customised for Air-India's inaugural flight to NY on February 8, saw nearly 50 per cent occupancy and is fully booked on the return leg. The Maharaja flew in style with crew dressed in Ritu Beri sarees, an interesting menu and in-flight entertainment selection, besides tastefully done décor.

Part of the larger A-I plan to map the India-US sector with non stop flights, the Delhi-NY route comes close on the heels of the non-stop service started between Mumbai and NY by A-I in August 2007. Now, A-I plans to start non-stop air services between Bangalore and San Francisco. A-I is targeting the business traveller in a big way through its non-stop flights.

A-I plans to increase the frequency to 28 flights a week along the Delhi-New York section soon.

“It has been a fantastic flight and suits a business traveller like me perfectly. I am a regular with all other airlines like Continental, British Airways, Delta and so on but I have to admit, the service on A-I was by far the best - great food, drinks, comfortable seating and a very helpful crew,” said Sourabh Sen, who was travelling first class on AI 101.

Another traveller, Deepak Kumar, said the sheer cut down in travel time was a big incentive. “I organise cultural shows in USA and so have to travel often between NY and Delhi. Most of the time I ended up going via London that took me some 20 hours upwards, here I get to NY in 14-15 hours flat and at a very reasonable price so I am planning to use A-I's non stop flight frequently,” Kumar said.