India's leading private airline Jet Airways received approval from the U.S. government Thursday to start flights to America, CNN-IBN reported.

The U.S. Department of Transportation gave the clearance after the U.S. State Department said the airline passed security check, the company sources was quoted by the TV news channel.

Jet Airways had planned to launch operations to the United States a year ago but was held back when an American company of the same name alleged that the Indian air carrier had links with terrorist masterminds like Dawood Ibrahim and outfits like al- Qaeda.

The airline plans to operate from Delhi and Mumbai to three U.S. cities, New York, Chicago and either San Francisco or Los Angeles, the sources said.

So far, the state-owned Air India is the only Indian carrier to operate flights between India and the United States.

Source: Xinhua