Aviation milestone as Air India gets set to fly over the North Pole

Air India's flight from New Delhi to San Francisco will fly over the North Pole. Photo courtesy: Wikimedia
Air India's flight from New Delhi to San Francisco will fly over the North Pole. Photo courtesy: Wikimedia

National carrier Air India is all set to operate its AI 173 New Delhi-San Francisco route over the North Pole to reduce flight times and fuel costs. The new polar route is scheduled to come into use August 15 onwards. This is an aviation milestone for Air India as it will become the first Indian airline to fly over the North Pole. 

AI 173’s current flight path goes over Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Japan, before crossing the Pacific Ocean to reach the United States. The new route will fly north, over Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Arctic Ocean and Canada before entering the US and will measure 8,000 km as compared to the previous route of 12,000 km. This will also result in a fuel saving of 2,000-7,000 kg with an expected decrease in carbon emissions of 6,000-21,000 kg, per flight. 

The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft will have 4 pilots and 12 cabin crew members on board who have undergone special training for emergency situations. This is particularly crucial as many aircrafts on polar routes fly on lower altitudes than usual to prevent the fuel from reaching its freezing point (-45°C).

Author
CtoI News Desk
CtoI News Desk – CtoI

Singapore-headquartered online media company targeting Indian Diaspora across Singapore, US, UK, UAE and India. Connected to India covers developments around NRIs. Covers arts, political, sports, finance, entrepreneurship, business, movies, dramas, entertainment and other news for Indians living worldwide.

Comments
Poll

Which team do you think will win IPL 2023?

  • Chennai Super Kings
  • Royal Challengers Bangalore
  • Mumbai Indians
  • Gujarat Titans
  • Kolkata Knight Riders
  • Delhi Capitals
  • Sunrisers Hyderabad
  • Lucknow Super Giants
  • Royal Challengers Bangalore
  • Punjab Kings
Answer
Write your story

Contribute an Article

Learn more