(Image source from: Conde Nast Traveler)

Indian Airlines is all geared up to become the first Indian airline to fly over the North Pole while connecting New Delhi and North America. The inaugural flight service will be on Indian Independence Day - August 15 - over the polar region and would fly from  New Delhi to San Francisco.

According to a report by India Today, the flight will be piloted by Capt Rajneesh Sharma and Capt Digvijay, which is considered to be a big achievement since no other Indian civil aviation has ever done this.

According to the airline, through this measure, passengers will benefit from reduced flight times. It further claims that this operation will cut down fuel consumption, reduce travel times, improve aircraft utility and reduce carbon emission. It claims that fuel savings are expected to be in the region of 2000 kgs to 7000 kgs on these routes with the resultant decrease in carbon emission of 6000 kg to 21000 kg, per flight, adds the report.

It is to be known that currently the route that the New Delhi to San Francisco flight takes goes over Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, and Japan before crossing the Pacific Ocean to enter the United States of America.

Indian Airlines’ new route is expecting to save around 90 minutes, making the travel time around 15.5 hours. This route would include flying over Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Arctic Ocean, Canada and then entering the United States.

By Sowmya Sangam