Indians make a dash for grand finale Down Under

NEW DELHI: The Men in Blue's dream run has sent Air India's cash registers ringing. The airline's daily service between Delhi and Sydney/Melbourne ­ the only nonstop flight between India and Australia by any airline­is going nearly full.
India's entry into the semifinal and the prospects of making it to the final have meant that all the 18 business and 238 economy seats of the 256-seater Dreamliner are almost sold out till this weekend.Interestingly, the business seats sold out before the cheaper cattle class.
The Australia-bound flights got quickly filled up after India reached the semis. Seats booked by cricket fans after that were sold for the highest rates.
"The business and economy class return fare is in the range of Rs 1.5-1.75 lakh and Rs 60,000-90,000 (AI Dreamliners don't have a first class). As the seats kept getting sold, fares moved to higher levels. The last few seats would have obviously gone at the highest levels," said the official.
Travel portal Yatra chief Sharat Dhall said a majority of people are going prepared for the Sunday final as well.
While AI has a nonstop connection, the other popular routes to Australia are via Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Travel agents said Gulf carriers are also witnessing a spurt in traffic with many fans taking flights to Australia.