Delta Air Lines has announced it will resume non-stop flights to Mumbai in 2019 after the US, UAE and Qatar reached an agreement to end rows between carriers.
The airline said the governments’ agreement addresses “the issue of government subsidies provided to state-owned carriers” in the UAE and Qatar – something a coalition of US-based airlines claimed caused unfair competition and made flights to certain markets “unviable”.
Delta claims flights between the US and India have been impacted by government-subsidised Middle Eastern airlines.
While schedule details have yet to be announced, Delta CEO Ed Bastian says the carrier is ‘excited’ to be returning to India. “We are thankful to the president for taking real action to enforce our Open Skies trade deals, which made this new service possible.”
Delta also intends to expand its existing codeshare agreement with Jet Airways.
Last week, low-cost carrier Wow Air announced it would launch flights between Delhi and nine US airports via Iceland this December.
delta.com