The FINANCIAL — Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, on December 6 commenced daily non-stop flights from New Delhi to Milan, aboard its new Airbus 330-200 aircraft.
The airline marked the launch of this new service from Delhi’s New T3 airport with a traditional lamp-lighting ceremony at Delhi International Airport, in the presence of dignitaries including H.E. Mr. Giacomo Sanfelice Di Monte Forte, Ambassador of Italy to India, Mr. I. Prabhakara Rao, Acting CEO, Delhi International Airport Mr. Peter Noyce, COO, Delhi International Airport, and Mr. Rajjinder Rai, President of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI). Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways and Captain Hameed Ali, Chief Operating Officer, Jet Airways were present to represent the organisation.
With Milan strategically located at the heart of Central Europe, Jet Airways’ daily non-stop service allows its guests enhanced connectivity from Milan to several Italian cities, besides easy access to other European destinations like Paris, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid, Zurich, Vienna, Belgrade and Budapest in conjunction with its interline partners, according to Jet Airways.
This new flight, the only one to offer a daily direct air link on the India – Italy route, also effectively utilizes New Delhi’s new state-of-the-art Terminal 3, as an operational hub offering seamless connectivity to and from India. Guests traveling from Milan to India may now connect to 47 destinations on Jet Airways' network within India, and onwards to international destinations like Kathmandu, Dhaka, Colombo, Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.
Flight 9W 142 departed Delhi at 1255 hours, arriving in Milan at 1800 hrs. On the return leg, flight 9W 141 will depart Milan at 2125 hrs, arriving in Delhi at 0955 hrs.
According to Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, CCO, Jet Airways, “Jet Airways is delighted to bridge two ancient and historical civilizations, which now play a very important role in the twenty first century. Milan – a truly international and cosmopolitan city is recognized globally, as not only the fashion and design capital of the world but also as the engine room of the Italian economy.
We are confident that Jet Airways will soon emerge as the preferred carrier on this popular route given our unparalleled network in India and ever expanding international footprint. Milan, as indeed the European Union is an important market for us and we are convinced of capturing and growing the market. We believe that this new route has the potential to serve the needs of our discerning corporate and leisure travelers,” he added.
Configured in two classes, with 30 seats in Première (Business Class) 190 seats in Economy, the spacious full-length wide-bodied twin aisle cabin of the A330-200 will truly make for a more pleasurable flying experience. The airline's Première guests will enjoy a 180 degree flat bed with lumbar support and massage systems, oversized table, telephony, SMS, Email and live text news to deliver a flying office, state-of-the-art On-Demand Panasonic In-Flight Entertainment (IFE), as well as the finest in-flight dining and service, among other amenities.
Italy has historically been one of Europe's main trade, business, finance and industrial hubs. But perhaps more important from an Indian perspective has been the burgeoning trend of bilateral trade between the two countries, which is pegged at over US$ 8 billion and is estimated to surpass US $10 billion soon. The two countries share strong ties in businesses ranging from automotive, textiles, heavy engineering, infrastructure, energy, clean technology to food-processing and agri-food business etc., Other areas of cooperation that are emerging include industrial design, science, IT, biotechnology and services. Importantly Milan is also set to play host to the 2015 Universal Exposition, which will showcase the latest scientific and technological innovations.
From a travel and tourism perspective, Italy offers an amalgamation of both the modern and traditional, given its rich historical and cultural heritage. Italy's ancient monuments and archeological sites and world famous works of art make it one of the most sought after tourist destinations. Similarly, Italians have also always appreciated Indian culture, traditions and aesthetics, with a deep passion for Indian textiles, art and architecture. These are perhaps among the many reasons why places like Rajasthan, Goa, Khajuraho, Kerala, Maharashtra are popular tourist destinations amongst Italian tourists.
Milan is the twenty-fourth destination in the airline’s international network. Jet Airways currently flies to New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah, Riyadh and Johannesburg.
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