Air France is set to start direct operations, thrice a week, on the Paris-Chennai-Paris sector, later this month
Chennai is all set for its newest international passenger airline connection, its 27th, beginning Monday, October 26. Air France is to start direct operations, thrice a week, on the Paris Charles De Gaulle-Chennai-Paris sector, which was previously scheduled for June but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An airline spokesperson said the 9 hour 45 minute flight (AF108/107) will be operated with a 279-seater three-class configured Boeing 787-9, landing at Meenambakkam on Tuesday at 00.12 hours. The return flight (also on Friday and Sunday) will be at 02.10 hours. For the inaugural flight, the departure from the city will be on Wednesday, October 28.
France is one of the countries India has air bubble arrangements with, and this flight will fill the void since 2019 created by the collapse of Jet Airways which used to fly this route.
However, travellers will have to wait for the city’s 28th and 29th foreign air links, once again affected by the novel coronavirus epidemic.
FitsAir, a private airline based in Sri Lanka, was to have begun ATR-72 operations on March 30, on the Jaffna-Chennai sector. An airline manager said plans were still active to launch regional flights to South India.
In what would have been Tamil Nadu’s first direct passenger air link with the African continent, Ethiopian Airlines was to have started flights on the Addis Ababa-Chennai sector (ET692/693) from April 1 using a Boeing 787. It was later listed as a Boeing 737 service. The Star Alliance carrier, which has cargo operations to Chennai, had even planned to market this flight as a connector to its South American destinations through its global hub in Ethiopia. An airline official declined to comment on when the air service (thrice a week) would commence.
In the domestic sector, Alliance Air, the regional subsidiary of Air India, has clarified that its Bengaluru-Madurai-Coimbatore-Bengaluru flight is to begin from Tuesday, October 13. Using a 70-seater ATR-72, flight 9I 573 will be a four-day service, on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, leaving Bengaluru at 06.30 a.m. and returning to base at 10.35 a.m.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/new-international-air-connections-to-be-forged-with-chennai/article32834697.ece
