May 1: Air-India (AI) is introducing services to Seoul twice a week from July, even as it restores services to other cities which were suspended for reasons of economy, and for ferrying across Haj pilgrims.

According to an airline spokesman, an Airbus A310 service to Seoul would be operated via Delhi and Hong Kong. Two weekly flights to Kathmandu will begin from October 26 even as Air-India is conducting a market survey to study the prospects of operating flights to the Philippines. Similarly, services to Seychelles and Mauritius are also slated to commence after a long gap.

The airline is also negotiating a tie-up with Air France so that it can gain access to those European cities which it does not have at present, the spokesman told Express Newsline. A similar reciprocal arrangement will also be extended to Air France. However, AI will benefit by using the Air France network to cover the whole of Europe, he said.

Flights to Toronto, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris, which were withdrawn earlier, are being restored from June, while flights to South Africa and Zurich will be resumed from November, according to the airline. The Toronto flights will be operated with a Boeing 747-200 aircraft, while the four Tokyo flights will be replaced with a Boeing 747-400 aircraft, thus increasing the utilisation of these aircrafts from below 10 hrs to 13 hours a day.

The spokesman said the twice-weekly Chicago flights will operate via London with effect from June 1 instead of via Frankfurt as at present. Air-India will also replace its leased Aeroflot IL 76 with its Boeing Combi 747-300 on its flights to Moscow from next month.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.