Kingfisher, Delta Air Lines JV on Indian routes

New York, Oct 21: Kingfisher Airlines, one of India's domestic airlines, has entered into an agreement with Delta Air Lines which allows the former to carry all passengers arriving in Mumbai on Delta flights to their destinations within the country.

Announcing the agreement, Regional Director for North America Sudhan Thomas at Kingfisher told a news conference in New York last night that such agreement was broadest of its kind reached by other private airlines in India.

Delta, based in Atlanta, will launch a non-stop flight from New York to Mumbai on November 1, Mr Thomas pointed out. And effective from December 1, Kingfisher is commencing its flights connecting Mumbai with Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi.

''These new flights will allow guests arriving at the Mumbai international airport (on Delta Air Lines) to reach their final destinations in India without having to transfer to the domestic terminals or having to wait long hours to connect to flights to their final destinations,'' Mr Thomas said.

''Kingfisher, which is known for its superior product quality, in-flight service and guest satisfaction, has added another first in the Indian aviation history.'' Kingfisher has recently signed ''interline'' relationships with American Airlines, Continental, KLM, Air France, Northwest, Cathay Pacific, Air-India and others.

''The strategy of building partnerships with international carrying carriers to drive traffic to its domestic network is in continuation to the Kingfisher objective of being the largest private domestic carrier in India within three years,'' Mr Thomas said.

UNI