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On Wednesday, Air India's maiden non-stop, tri-weekly Bengaluru-to-San Francisco flight to San Francisco, US, via Delhi took off. Thus, the National flag carrier Air India became first airline offering direct connections to the west coast of the US from India.

In a statement, Air India said, "With the commencement of Delhi-San Francisco operations, Air India became the first airline to offer direct connections from India to the west coast of the US."

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, i.e. thrice a week, Bengaluru-to-San Francisco flight via Delhi will begin at 9.15 p.m. at Bengaluru on an Airbus A321 aircraft. The flight will arrive at 11.45 pm in Delhi.

On Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, the flight will then leave for San Francisco from Delhi at 2.35 a.m. deploying a Boeing B777-200LR aircraft. On the same day, the flight will reach San Francisco at 7 a.m. and depart at 10.30 a.m.to reach Delhi the next day. At 4.20 p.m., the flight will further depart for Karnataka's capital and reach Bengaluru at 5.45 p.m.

According to the Air India, dynamic pricing will be levied for Flight AI - 173 for its fares, while the inaugural fare would be Rs.82,500 for a return ticket. Passengers are being offered the facility to undergo customs and immigration at Bengaluru airport itself. The Air India connects 34 international as well as 50 domestic destinations.

Sumana