Aadhaar card based e-gates at airports in India soon to make travel seamless

New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation is planning to make passengers’ entry in all major airports across the country a bit easier. As per a top government official, the ministry has decided to use Aadhaar card as digital identity required for paperless entry in airports. It is expected to install e-gates to permit Aaadhar card-based travel from 2018. As of now, air passengers in the country are needed to show printed or mobile tickets and a government identity card. After the new system is introduced, entry in airports would be based on biometrics, livemint.com reported.

Civil Aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said in an interview that the ministry is likely to create template document needed for introducing an Aadhaar-based system at airports by the end of January, which will also be approved by security agencies. Once the process is complete, airports in the country will be permitted to adopt biometric readers and other technology vendors to introduce the system. He also said that a database that talks freely between airports, airlines and Aadhaar authorities—is already being looked into, he further said.

Soon, Thailand beaches will be just a direct flight away

New Delhi: Indian leisure travellers will soon be able to fly to Thailand's popular beach resort towns Krabi and Pattaya directly, as the government has secured direct flight rights to these destinations for the country's airlines. "During negotiations, we have fetched rights for Indian carriers to fly to Samui and Utapao airports," said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be quoted. While Samui is the airport for Krabi islands, Utapao is airport for Pattaya.

So long, Indian travellers had to fly to these destinations primarily through Bangkok because Indian carriers were not allowed to fly to these destinations.

Training for better airport service

Shamshabad: A valedictory event was organised by GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (Hyderabad Center) here recently, to recognise the trainees of the first two batches of ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ (RPL) programme conducted for the housekeeping staff at Hyderabad International Airport.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) along with GMRVF conducted this programme for the housekeeping staff and gardeners working at the airport. M Subhash deputy chief operating officer, GHIAL handed over the certificates to the candidates.

Now, flight connectivity to Sharjah from Odisha capital!

Bhubaneswar: Good news for frequent flyers as the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Odisha capital is going to get air connectivity to one more foreign destination soon. This comes days after national carrier Air India launched its direct flight to Bangkok.

Budget passenger carrier IndiGo today announced direct flight services to Sharjah from two cities in India from later this month and 11 other cities, including Bhubaneswar, shortly.

As per the carrier, it will launch new flight services on the Lucknow-Sharjah-Lucknow and Hyderabad-Sharjah-Hyderabad sectors from December 29 this year.

Regional service will boost online air booking

It has been a good year for the Indian aviation industry. In 2017, India rose to the second spot globally, replacing Germany, in terms of air bookings made on the Global Distribution System (GDS), according to Travelport.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company provides distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $7-trillion global travel and tourism industry.

GDS is a complex, technology-based distribution network used in the travel industry to aggregate millions of travel options from hundreds of thousands of travel providers, including airlines, hotels, cruise liners and car rental agencies.

In an exclusive chat with BusinessLine, Gordon Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Travelport, explains what the technology means. Edited excerpts:

How does India stand in the global universe of GDS?

Passenger traffic at Amritsar airport reaches all-time high

Amritsar: For the first time, the total monthly traffic of passengers, international and domestic, at Sri Guru Das ji International Airport here has crossed the two-lakh mark. As per the data released by the Airport Authority of India, the domestic air traffic at the Amritsar airport rose by 73.7 per cent in October 2017 as compared to the corresponding period in 2016.
As per the data, a total of 1,59,311 domestic passengers travelled (to and from) the Amritsar airport in October this year as compared to 91,706 passengers in October last year.

Tourism, Singapore airlines set blitz to spur India arrivals

The Department of Tourism   is ready to roll out the red carpet for  a significant increase in Indian arrivals into the Philippines following the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement with Singapore International Airlines.

Through the one-year collaboration, DoT and SIA will hold  joint marketing initiatives that will implement activities to promote the Philippines to the Indian market through social media, familiarization tours, and roadshows, among others.

The agreement was signed byTourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. and SIA Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing Campbell Wilson at the Makati Diamond Residences.

Air India Express to launch flight connecting Dubai to Vijaywada

DubaiL Air India Express is soon going to introduce a flight connecting Dubai with Vijaywada, an important city in Southern India. This will be the first flight of the airline as it going to launch its services from Vijaywada’s fast expanding Gannavaram Airport.

Air India Express is an economy airline with international standards. A team of Air India officials recently visited the Vijaywada Airport and expressed satisfaction at the facilities developed here. The inaugural flight will be connecting Vijaywada to Dubai via Mumbai.

IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet put in bids for operating UDAN flights

New Delhi: IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet have submitted bids under the regional connectivity scheme's second round of bidding wherein the government has received 141 initial proposals, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The financial bids in the second round of the scheme -- Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) -- would be opened on Thursday while the technical bids were opened on December 5.
IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Zoom Air are among the applicants that have put in their bids for the second round of UDAN, according to the civil aviation ministry official.

Air India may launch non-stop Amritsar-Birmingham flight in 2018

Chandigarh: Air India is planning to start a non-stop Amritsar-Birmingham flight from next year. This will mean an easier flight home for the Punjabi diaspora in the Midlands region of UK.
"Air India is in process of exploring the possibility of operating flights between Amritsar and Birmingham in 2018," Sunil Sahore, counsel for the Air India told the Punjab and Haryana high court. He produced an e-mail from the Air India headquarters for conveying this to the high court, however, it also clarified that "no confirmed dates of operations can be given at this point of time."
Hearing the "informal" reply from Air India, a division bench comprising Justice A K Mittal and Justice Amit Rawal asked the airlines to submit their plans "in writing".

AirAsia India to expand fleet, add more routes on rising travel demand

Mumbai: AirAsia's Indian venture is expanding its fleet and routes as the budget carrier hopes to turn in a profit next fiscal year amid a surge in air traffic in the world's fastest-growing aviation market.

The airline, a joint venture between Malaysia's flagship budget airline AirAsia and India's Tata Group, is looking to cash in on the surge in India's air travel that has been growing at an annual pace of more than 20% in recent years. Rising incomes and the advent of no-frills carriers prompt more people to shun trains for long-distance travel in the world's second-most populous nation.

Last year, India became the third-largest aviation market behind the U.S. and China with domestic traffic touching 100 million passengers.

Air India Express to launch flights to Dubai from city

Vijayawada: The fast-expanding Gannavaram airport will soon have the services of Air India Express, an economy airline with international standards, connecting Vijayawada, Mumbai and Dubai.

The airline operates Boeing 737 flights and the services are likely to commence on January 15.

A team of Air India officials already visited the Vijayawada airport and expressed their satisfaction at the facilities developed after it acquired international status. “We are making plans ready for an integrated terminal building at the airport,” sources said.

New terminal at Hubballi airport inaugurated

Hubballi: A long-standing demand of the North Karnataka region to have an upgraded airport to accommodate more large aircraft became a reality on Tuesday with the inauguration of a new terminal building of the Hubballi airport.
To mark the occasion, a new flight to Mumbai from Bengaluru via Hubballi was also flagged off at Hubballi airport, which operates thrice a week from Tuesday.
Speaking after dedicating the new terminal building at the Hubballi airport premises, Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving a thrust to develop aviation, to enable the common man to travel by air. We have demonstrated to the world that India is the third-fastest growing domestic aviation market in the last 3-4 years."

Seaplane services to be launched in River Krishna

Visakhapatnam: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that they have taken decision to start seaplane services near Prakasam Barrage in Krishna river in Vijayawada, while inaugurating an awareness conference on aviation safety organised by World Bird Strike Association (WBA) and Andhra Pradesh government at a private hotel here on Monday.

It may be noted that the Aviation Ministry has given permissions for seaplane services at Mumbai airport. Speaking on the occasion, Ashok Gajapathi Raju said the airport works at Bhogapuram would begin soon as well as cargo services too will be started from Vizag. The Aviation Minister spoke about the future of aviation sector and introduction of seaplanes, UDAN scheme and setting up of proposed additional airports in the country.

Govt boost to air connectivity: 150-200 airports expected to be operational soon, says Jayant Sinha

New Delhi: The government is looking to make 150-200 airports operational in the coming years, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said. Sinha, while addressing young entrepreneurs in Srinagar, added that the aviation sector is already drawing revenues nearly at par with the Indian Railways and the telecom industry.
He was speaking at an event organised by BJP leader Khalid Jehangir led Foundation for Resource Development and Education. Sinha revealed that the present 200 million passenger trips recorded by the Indian aviation sector could increase to 1 billion in 10-15 years, surpassing the United States and China. He pointed out that the current BJP-led NDA government had built 25 new airports in addition to the 75 operational airports built during the Congress-led UPA-II government’s tenure.