Amidst the dipping level of Covid-19 infection and opening of US universities for the fall semester, the government run Air India has enhanced the frequency of flights to the United States. According to an Indian Express report, the airline is going to run as numerous as 21 flights in a week to the US beginning from August 7.
Till July, the airline was operating only 10 weekly flights to the United States but with the surge of a big quantity of students, the quantity of direct flights to the US has more than doubled. It is pertinent to note that in spite of the upcoming boost in the India-US flights, the total quantity of flights among the two nations has not reached the level of early this year when the airline ran 40 weekly flights to the US. Travel among the two nations was absolutely banned by the US administration in May this year when the nation was facing the worst phase of the second wave of Coronavirus.
Since the travel resumed, Indian students seeking for flight tickets to the US have been not only facing troubles in booking the tickets but have been also acquiring the tickets at an very inflated price. Announcing the boost in the quantity of flights to the US, Air India in a tweet informed that further flights will run among the two nations on August 6, August 13, August 20 and August 27. Apart from the flights run by Air India, the American airline firms United and Delta are also operating a restricted quantity of flights among the two nations.
An Air India official speaking on the situation of anonymity told the Indian Express that due to the limit on the quantity of flights, the airline was rescheduling the tickets of numerous passengers in a staggered manner. The official stated that the circumstance was so dire that handful of passengers could only get tickets for a date one month immediately after their schedule. However, the official stated that with the introduction of new flights, the circumstance will definitely get improved in the month of August.
In view of the staggered re-scheduling of flights and other delays, a lot of Indian students are facing difficulties in attending their US universities. EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti told the Indian Express that students are not in a position to join their universities on time. Despite the US government’s permission for students to arrive in the US 30 days ahead of the scheduled starting of the fall semester, numerous students will miss the starting of the fall semester, Pitti added.