Flights to India
There are plenty of choices to fly into India. Direct flights to India, to Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay), are available from most of the European Major Airports by airlines like British Air, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss Air, etc. From USA direct non-stop flights to India are rare, and the usual route is through Europe by one of the previously mentioned Airlines or by American Airlines, Delta, Continental, etc to Europe and then a connecting flight to Delhi or Mumbai (Bombay). If you want to fly to any other city, then you need to take a domestic flight from either Delhi or Mumbai (Bombay) Airport. This involves Customs and Immigration clearance and then transfer to another Domestic Airport. This is not at all convenient and it is better you get a direct flight to the City of your final destination. Other than a handful of flights from Europe, none of the European or American Airlines have flights to any city other than Delhi or Mumbai in India. The only Airlines that can offer you very convenient flights to these smaller cities are the Middle East oil rich Gulf States National Airlines like Emirates Airlines, Ethihad Airlines and Qatar Airways. These Airlines, especially Emirates Airlines have regular flights to Trivandrum and Cochin, Kerala. Emirates also has daily flights from Dubai to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Cochin in India. Since Emirates has direct flights from Dubai to New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Emirates is one of the best Airlines to fly to India.
One of the best choices to fly into India is to take a flight offered by the Middle East Gulf States Airlines like Emirates, Ethihad and Qatar Airways. Emirates is especially good since you can fly to Dubai direct from all the major European and American Airports. There are direct non-stop flights from New York, Houston, San Francisco, Toronto (Canada) and Los Angeles to Dubai. Then from Dubai you can fly direct to most of the Indian Airports like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai (Madras), Bangalore, Cochin (Kerala), Goa, Hyderabad and many more. This is a very convenient way to get to your destination in India. Added to the charm of this flight, is the facility for a stopover in Dubai, which also includes hotel stay, food and transportation. Dubai is a dream city which has risen from the desert sands and is now one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. It is also a shopper’s paradise with some of the lowest prices in the world for electronics, Jewelry, clothes, etc. Emirates Airlines will soon have one of the largest fleets of the Jumbo Airbus A380 Aircraft. They are already operating Nonstop flights on these giant A380s on routes from USA, Canada, UK and Europe to Dubai . The A380s are just the best planes to fly today. Just imagine you have a bar/restaurant, Duty free shop and even a shower is possible on these planes. Below please find images of the seating plan.
Indian Airports
The Airports map of India shows all the Indian Airports, major and minor, is shown below from from the official site of the Airport Authority of India http://www.airportsindia.org .
All Civil Airports in India are under the control of the Airports Authority of India. The site is able to give some basic information on all the Airports in India. India has quite a good Domestic air network. Many Airlines like Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air Sahara, Spice Jet and many more, crisscross the country giving good air connections through out the country. If you book early, sometimes airfares are cheaper than going by trains.