Air India has announced the addition of a new route to its schedule that will join the major technology hubs of San Francisco and New Delhi. The new service will begin in December, covering 7,670 miles and taking around 16 hours. There was some speculation that the airline planned to operate a route between Bangalore and San Francisco, which would have become the longest non-stop service in the world at around 8,700 miles.

However, the new service will still bring considerable benefits to both cities, which are renowned around the globe for their level of technology expertise. This new non-stop route will enable greater collaboration between the Indian and US markets. The service, which will operate three times per week, means that technology executives on both sides of the Pacific will be able to quickly travel between the two countries, with plenty of short-term rentals to provide convenience when they are there.

The service will operate on a Boeing 777-200 LR. It will add to the airline’s existing US destinations of New York, Chicago and Newark. Air India is also planning to launch a London-to-Ahmedabad direct service.

Currently, the longest non-stop flight covers the route between Dallas and Sydney. The service is operated by Qantas and takes 17 hours to travel the 8,578 miles. However, this will shortly be beaten by the new Emirates service, which is expected to commence in February. This will take passengers from Dubai to Panama City, a distance of around 8,580 miles.