Tuesday, July 12 2005 19:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: American Airlines today (July 12, 2005) announced the launch of non-stop daily flights between Delhi and Chicago from November 15 in code share with Air Sahara.

The Indian carrier is also considering joining a global airline alliance in the near future.

Less than a week ago, Air Sahara had announced a tie-up with leading global carrier British Airways to provide seamless travel for Indians to UK and other parts of the world.

"Air Sahara will code share on the new service and jointly market and promote it alongside American Airlines," Air Sahara President Ronojoy Dutta told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the Indian carrier would soon hold discussions with Cathay Pacific in its coverage of the Southeast Asian market.

In reply to questions, Dutta did not rule out the possibility of Air Sahara joining a global airline alliance.

British Airways, American Airlines and Cathay Pacific, besides Qantas, Aer Lingus, Finnair and LAN are part of the 'OneWorld' Alliance.

The Delhi-Chicago flight from November 15, to be operated by Boeing 777-200 aircraft, would be the longest non-stop route of American's network at 7,484 air miles. The plane would have 16 first-class, 35 business class and 185 economy seats.

Maintaining that the commercial agreement with Air Sahara was "comprehensive and inclusive", American Airlines Vice President Craig Kreeger said it would not only lead to both airlines jointly selling tickets of each other on their India-US network, but would also place each other's flight codes in their respective services on the sector.

Members of Air Sahara's frequent flyer programme would be able to earn and redeem their mileage points on American Airlines' network and vice versa, besides enjoying other benefits like facilities of airport lounges of each other.

However, Air Sahara and American Airlines would compete each other whenever the Indian carrier decides to launch Delhi-Chicago services. Air Sahara has a similar arrangement with British Airways on routes like London-Delhi where it has planned to operate this winter.

While Air Sahara operates 123 flights per day to 23 destinations in India besides Kathmandu, Colombo and Singapore, American, with a fleet of over 1,000 planes, operates 550 flights each day to 110 cities worldwide.

Air Sahara tied up British Airways on July 7 to provide seamless travel to India and the UK, while deciding to synchronise flight schedules, launch joint fare products, synergise ground services and frequent flyer programmes and explore ways to have a codeshare agreement in the future.

India and the US, besides the UK, have already entered into bilateral agreements to substantially expand air services between them.