Air India expects to increase manifold its earnings from the India-US sector, which will see addition of more new direct services by the flag carrier.

"As the India-US sector is the highest revenue earning sector for us with the enormous growth potential, it will continue to be Air India's major thrust area for growth in the coming years," the airline's Executive Director Jitender Bhargava told reporters in New York.

The revenue earned from the India-US sector in 2005-06 was almost Rs 2,616 crore (Rs 26.16 billion) and "we expect to earn a revenue of over Rs 3,300 crore (Rs 33 billion) in the current year. Next year, this will be much higher," he said.

The airline also plans to introduce non-stop flights between Bangalore to San Francisco later this year, connecting the Silicon Valleys of either countries, when the sixth Boeing 777-300 (Extended Range) aircraft is inducted.

The airline also plans to commence flights to Washington and Texas that is either Houston or Dallas, amongst other cities in the US. However, these services would be operated with an intermediate halt at a European destination, Bhargava said.

He was speaking to reporters from India who flew in New York on Air India's first non-stop Delhi-New York flight over the North Pole, covering the distance in just a little over 15 hours.