Convinced by the overwhelming demand for direct connectivity between the holy city of Amritsar and North America, Neos, a private airline from Italy has chosen the solemn occasion of Vaisakhi to meet this long-standing demand of Punjabis.
Starting April 6, a week before the traditional Vaisakhi festival, Neos will operate its maiden Amritsar-Milan-Toronto-New York flight. Likewise, there will be a return flight coming to the holy city from the Toronto-Milan sectors the following day. Once-a-week service is expected to be doubled by June as the Italian air carrier, promising to use Dreamer Boeing on the route, hopes to connect other North American cities as well.
Interestingly, Neos and its Indian partners – Biplasha and Ghai Travels – chose all Fool’s Day to make the formal announcement at a Zirakpur hotel in the presence of top travel houses and travel agents besides select media.
The airline has announced that each passenger travelling to Canada by economy class will be allowed two bags of 23 kg each while those in Premier Economy will be allowed two bags of 32 kg each.
The new flight will have around a 4-hour layover in Milan either way and take a maximum of 22 hours to reach Toronto from Amritsar.
It may be pertinent to mention that Neos after bringing some chartered flights to Amritsar in 2021 introduced the Amritsar-Milan flight last year.
“Response is so overwhelming that in coming years, Neos Punjab, will connect the holy city with most sought-after destinations in Europe, the Americas and Africa,” says Mr Luca Campanati, Sales Manager of the airline. “We are also exploring the possibility of taking care of Cargo as Amritsar and Punjab have a lot of potential. We can take fresh fruit and vegetables besides other goods from Amritsar and bring in goods from Italy and North America.
“We may be a little costlier to start with as aviation fuel costs have skyrocketed. We hope to offer affordable fares on all our flights. We will gradually introduce Business and first class. As of now, we will have economy, Premier economy and special economy classes with nearly 350 seats in each of our Dreamer aircraft.
Neos 787 Premium Economy
“Besides pure Indian vegetarian and gluten-free meals, we will have Italian meals for our passengers,” says Mr Filippa Casali, Revenue Manager of Neos.
Also present at the official launch event were Nr Rajiv Anand and Mr Onkar Singh, India representatives of Neos. Also in attendance was Mr Bharat Ghai, the man behind this plan and who has been in the travel trade for over four decades. Ne Umesh Kapur, Mr Kamaljit Cheema, Mr Harminder Singh and Mr Anil Anand were among Chandigarh-based travel advisers who interacted with the Neos team and sought clarifications on the new flight.
Meanwhile, Fly Amritsar Initiative has lauded Neos for its initiative and appealed to the Indian Diaspora in general and Punjabi Diaspora, in particular, to support the initiative as it meets their long-standing demand.