International airlines, including Air-India, Delta Airlines, and Air Canada, are stepping up the frequency of flights from India to North America as the rush of travellers to the US and Canada continues.

Indirect operators (international carriers that ferry Indian traffic to the US via their respective countries) like Emirates have also decided on capacity addition on this route to meet the growing demand.

The India-US sector saw a withdrawal of around 8,000 seats per week after 9/11.

While A-I is planning three or more additional flights to the US west coast, Delta has decided to add six additional flights on the Mumbai-New York route from January 2004.

A-I has already doubled its frequency to the US to 20 flights (4,300 seats) per week compared with 10 flights per week in December last year. Delta operates daily flights out of Mumbai via Paris.

An Air-India spokesperson said: "Traditionally, the load factor on the India-US sector is around 80 per cent. This has now increased to over 90 per cent. There has been no lean season this year and all flights to the US are full."

"The Indian market is extremely seasonal. The capacity addition is in anticipation of the peak season and to cater to the heavy Indian passenger traffic to the US," Dieter Hofele, general manager (India), Delta Air Lines, told Business Standard.

Air Canada, which had withdrawn its operations from India, has also announced non-stop daily services between New Delhi and Toronto, the only non-stop link between North America and India.

Emirates on the other hand has entered into a code-sharing  agreement with the US-based Continental Airlines on flights between Dubai and the US (to and from Houston, New York, Newark in New Jersey) airports via London's Gatwick airport.

Nabil Sultan, vice president, India and Nepal, Emirates Airline, said: "A significant number of Indians are travelling to the US and this alliance provides them with greater convenience in evaluating travel options to and from the US."

"There is a huge unmet demand in the India-US sector. More and more international airlines are increasing their services to India with a view to primarily carry Indian traffic to the US via their respective countries," industry officials said.

Most of the carriers from the Middle East and the Gulf region like Emirates, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air and European carriers like Lufthansa offer stop-over services to the US.