Since December 1 this year, Korean Air has launched a new direct flight from South Korea to Delhi, India. They are currently operating on a five-flights-weekly basis in their Delhi Seoul-Incheon route.

The airline uses an Airbus A330-200 that can seat up to 218 passengers. This flight name is KE481, and has already touched the ground at Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport, where they were met with a water canon event courtesy by the airport.

Passengers worldwide have greatly welcomed this new addition to Korean Air routes, as this convenience will allow them to have more choices when traveling to the US West Coast. This new flight is part of the airlines' continuous international expansion, as part of their mandate to give their customers "Excellence in Flight."

Mohan Ranganathan, a Chennai-based aviation analyst, said: "They will be able to tap the San Francisco traffic. And if they give a good connection to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, other airlines will have a hard time." He also said that other airlines such as Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines are currently aware and looking in at the said traffic.

This direct flight will leave Delhi at 7:40 pm every day for 5 times a week, and will land in Incheon at 5:50 am the following day. Meanwhile, the return flight from Incheon will leave at 12:45 pm, and will land in Delhi at 6:20 pm, according to Korean Air's website

This new route was also a result of an enhanced South Korea-India international trade relations. As of now, the bilateral annual trade between both countries is estimated to be around $16.59 billion. The two countries are also highly endorsing their country-based products, with LG, Samsung and Hyundai currently popular in India, as well as India's Tata group, Mahindra and Aditya Birla Group likewise familiar in the Korean soil.

In the future, we can expect Korean Air to expand more on their current flights to 127 cities worldwide. After the launch of the Incheon-Delhi daily service flights, they are now looking into providing a direct flight to Tehran.