Air India’s longest direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with an all-woman cockpit crew successfully landed in Bengaluru on Monday.
IMAGE: The all women crew of the inaugural flight of Air India from San Francisco to Bengaluru, from left to right, Capt. Papagari Thanmai, Capt. Zoya Aggarwal, Capt. Akansha Sonware and Capt. Shivani Manhas pose for a photo after the landing of the maiden flight, at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo
The national carrier had said on Saturday that this flight would be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by any Indian airline and the total flight time on this route would be of more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that day.
The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours.
“In a moment to cherish and celebrate, women professionals of Indian civil aviation create history,” Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said on Twitter.
IMAGE: Capt Zoya Aggarwal, of the inaugural flight of Air India from San Francisco to Bengaluru, waves at the photographers. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo
“Heartiest Congratulations to Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware & Capt Shivani for flying over North Pole to land in Bengaluru from San Francisco,” he stated.
Flight AI176 departed from San Francisco in the USA at around 8.30 pm (local time) on Saturday and landed at the Kempegowda International Airport at around 3.45 am (local time) on Monday.
IMAGE: Capt Papagari Thanmai, left, and Captain Shivani Manhas, right, of the inaugural flight of Air India from San Francisco to Bengaluru. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo
The flight was operated with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft with a seating capacity of 238 seats, including eight First Class, 35 Business Class,195 Economy class configuration besides four cockpit and 12 cabin crew.