Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his September visit to the Silicon Valley had made an announcement in this regard

Washington: Air India airline is scheduled to commence a direct flight service to the Silicon Valley from the national capital from December 2. Air India has already announced that the new flight will be operated by the wide-body Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his September visit to the Silicon Valley had made an announcement in this regard.

According to the airline, the flight AI-173 from Bengaluru to Delhi will depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Bengaluru at 2115 hours with a A321 aircraft. The flight will arrive in Delhi at 2345 hours. Flight AI-173 to San Francisco will leave Delhi on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 0235 hours and will be operated with B777-200LR aircraft, it said.

This flight will arrive into San Francisco at 0700 hours (local time) on the same day, Air India said adding the return flight will depart at 1030 hours and arrive at Delhi next day (Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays) and at 1620 hours it will depart for Bengaluru with A321 plane to arrive at 1745 hours.

Passengers will have huge benefits travelling to San Francisco as they will undergo immigration and customs at their boarding point itself and can have comfortable journey further, according to the release.

Passengers can enjoy non-stop entertainment, specially chosen food and best of the comfort on this one of the world's longest flights, it added.

US' San Francisco International Airport has announced a trivia contest on social media to mark the beginning of the first-ever non-stop flight from New Delhi to the tech city by Air India from December 2.

The contest, titled #NonstopAirIndia, invites participants to answer five trivia questions about Air India and their new service at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

"This new service is significant- the first nonstop flight from the West Coast of the US to India, saving hours off the journey time," Charles Schuler, Director of Communications SFO said.

"We are excited to host this contest to welcome Air India to SFO," he said.

With this contest, participants have a chance to win round-trip economy tickets on Air India to New Delhi, an SFO media release said on Wednesday.

A number of officials from the US and India, including Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India, will attend a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on December 2 to mark the beginning of the services. Air India plans to launch services with three flights per week -- on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

SFO offers non-stop flights to more than 39 international destinations on 33 international carriers. The Bay Area's largest airport connects non-stop with 77 cities in the US on 13 domestic airlines.

AI expects passengers from other Indian cities -- Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Pune -- as well will have seamless connections to the flight from Delhi.

PTI