Community leaders sought to to explore the possibilities of direct flights to India, and for Landguth and his team to share the criteria that the airport uses when considering additions to international flight services
Based on the explosive growth of the Indian American community in the Triangle, and the increasing need for frequency of travel to India from the Triangle, Community leaders hosted a Town Hall meeting with RDU Airport CEO, Michael Landguth at the Hindu Society of North Carolina, according to Steve S. Rao , a Council Member At Large and Former Mayor Pro Tem for the Town of Morrisville.
The purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibilities of direct flights to India, and for Landguth and his team to share the criteria that the airport uses when considering additions to international flight services.
The Town Hall meeting was the result of an increasing number of emails and phone calls that Steve Rao received from the community over the years on the need for a direct flight to India. Prior to the Covid pandemic, Landguth and Rao had planned a Town Hall to discuss this issue, but the past two years was very difficult for me to put together a meeting.
Today, Newark, Dulles, Chicago O’Hare, Seattle and San Francisco have direct flights to India, (LA had one before Covid Pandemic) and these airports are all major international airports, unlike RDU. However, Rao believes that there are a number of reasons, RDU should consider adding a direct flight.
In fact, during the pandemic, Rao saw a significant increase in interest for direct flights to India. Much of this interest came from families, who were not able to see their loved ones before they passed away, as they missed connecting flights.
Although there are a number of ways to get to India, either via Paris, London or Dubai, a direct flight could be more convenient with no connections or layovers. Currently, the Paris flight from RDU is the number one connection to Delhi, Chennai and other cities in India.
A direct flight to India can accelerate this economic development momentum and encourage more companies in India, across the technology, manufacturing and life science sectors in invest in our region
It is not a secret that North Carolina will need to continue to strengthen economic ties with the world largest democracy and 5th largest economy in the world, India. In fact, The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) set up an office in Bangalore in November 2018 to build on its track record of Indian company presence in the US region. Chris Chung and his team led the efforts to establish this office to leverage on the recent economic development momentum of investment from India.
In 2017, Infosys established an innovation hub in Raleigh with the goal of over 2000 jobs in the region in 10 years and have already met the goal of 500 jobs by 2021. This $3 billion investment from the market leading Tech Services firm was a game changing win for the State.
Bharat Forge announced plans in 2019 to invest $127.3 million and create 304 jobs in Sanford. And HCL in Cary is a perfect example of how Foreign Direct Investment from India can lead to high paying jobs and aggressive economic growth in the region.
A direct flight to India can accelerate this economic development momentum and encourage more companies in India, across the technology, manufacturing and life science sectors in invest in our region. Also, many technology companies, including IBM, SAS, Cisco, to name a few, continue to have a strong presence in India, along with smaller tech companies as well, many in Morrisville and Cary. Pharma, Life Science and Contract Research Organizations also have significant connections to India.
Over the past decade, the Triangle region has witnessed explosive growth of the Indian community. With over 425,000 Asian Americans in North Carolina, 2021 census estimates had over 51,000 Indian Americans in Wake County and 57,000 with Wake, Durham and Orange counties combined. The Census also revealed that the Indian American community in Morrisville comprised 46% of the Town of Morrisville population, currently at 36,840. 2020 Census results has the Town of Cary with 19,903 Indian Americans, and I am confident the number, is much higher today, with much of the community moving to West Cary.
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