Embraer to name its Indian operator soon

Dubai:   The Brazilian small aircraft manufacturer Embraer expects to make an announcement for a new operator of its aircraft in the Indian market soon.

“(The name of the operator is) still undisclosed but very soon we should be able to announce the new operators of the 50-seater aircraft in India. Some of them (airlines ordering Embraer aircraft) are existing, some of them could be new players,” Cesar Pereira, Vice-President, Asia Pacific, Embraer Commercial Aviation, told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the recently-concluded Dubai air show.

No VIP culture in airports at all: Aviation Minister

New Delhi: Aviation minister Jayant Sinha today denied that "VIP culture" was prevalent at Indian airports, saying that leeway given is only for security reasons.

Speaking days after tourism minister Alphons Kannanthanam was confronted by a passenger at the Imphal airport who alleged delay in her flight to Patna due to VIP movement, Sinha said that the distinction among passengers at airports was merely for security purposes.

3 airlines ready to operate big aircraft from Calicut

Emirates, Saudia, and Air India have expressed their willingness to operate wide-bodied aircraft at the Calicut International Airport subjected to the approval and conditions of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Representatives of these airline companies gave their suggestions at a meeting with AAI officials at the airport on Thursday.

Emirates and Saudia had ceased operations following the ban on wide-bodied aircraft since May 2015. “Both had said that they would resume their flights to the most sought-after destinations in the Middle East,” Calicut airport director J.T. Radhakrishna told The Hindu .

GMR Airports reveals new technology and innovation lab plans

GMR Group, which operates Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in the Philippines, has been making a concerted effort in recent years to channel its innovation as it continues to implement new technologies to help future-proof its airport facilities.

Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Innovation Officer at GMR Airports, who delivered a presentation at FTE Asia EXPO 2017 in Singapore earlier this month, revealed to FTE which forward-thinking projects have either been recently completed or are currently ongoing.

Among them is a successful trial of biometric-enabled kerb-to-gate processing.

Jaipur-Abu Dhabi flight to be discontinued from March!

Jaipur: The Jaipur to Abu Dhabi flight may be discontinued from March next year. February 28 will be the last operational day for the flight. It will be a major setback for international traveler as it was used as a connecting flight for people traveling to Europe and USA. Reportedly, the airlines operating this flight is planning to provide connecting flights via Delhi or Mumbai after March 1.

The flight started operations in April 2014 with a 7-day service. However, due to the decrease in the number of passengers, the airline decided to operate this flight for 5 days. Presently, the flight operates 4-days a week and this will change to 3-days a week from January 2018.
To Read the News in Full 23/11/17 Pink City Post

Chennai-Delhi airfare reaches Rs 10K for Christmas, New Year

Chennai: High demand has pushed airfare beyond the Rs 10,000 mark on trips from Chennai, especially to Delhi and Mumbai, for travel for Christmas and New Year holidays. The fare ranges from Rs 3,000 to Rs 15,000 for 30day advance booking for one-way travel from Chennai to the metros on December 23, which is almost on a par with fare for 24 hours advance booking on non-festive weekdays.
The fares have risen because Christmas and New Year, which fall on Mondays, have led to extended weekends. Travel agents believe fares would increase further and are predicting a hike in other routes too.

Int'l airlines owe TIA Rs 2.5 billion for services

Kathmandu: Two dozen international airlines operating in Nepal have yet to pay around Rs 2.5 billion to  Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) for using various services at Nepal's only international airport.

The airlines have for a long time not paid TIA the service charges that they collect from air passengers and other fees, such as for airport development,  parking, navigation, security and counter-charges.

The international airlines haven't paid the charges even though they  earn around Rs 80 billion a year flying to and from Nepal. Nepal's air travel market has nearly reached the Rs 100 billion mark. In this, the share of the national flag carrier Nepal Airlines Corporation is hardly 10 percent.

 The responsibility for this state of affairs has been attributed to TIA's General Manager Devananda Upadhyay.

The amounts due have not been recovered as Upadhyay didn't enforce the regulations, such as the Airport Service Charge Regulations-2067 BS and Financial Administration Regulations-2057.

From April-October, Bagdogra airport recorded 60 per cent increase in footfall

Kolkata: Bagdogra Airport in Darjeeling district has seen a 60 per cent jump in passenger footfall from April to October 2017, despite the violent Gorkhaland agitations. Airport director Rakesh Sahay said that this is the biggest jump in passenger traffic so far. Bagdogra connects not only Darjeeling but Terai, Dooars, Sikkim and Bhutan to the rest of the country. Sahay said that from April to October 2016, the airport recorded 7.83 lakh passengers. During the corresponding period between April and October 2017, the airport recorded 12.48 lakh passengers.
“Surprisingly the Gorkhaland agitation and Darjeeling shutdown did not affect the passenger traffic at all. There wasn’t even a slowdown of passengers. This is because most of the passengers who come to this region don’t usually come as individual tourists. The most popular thing is to take tour packages with travel agencies. What the agencies did was reconstitute the packages shifting the tourists from Darjeeling to Dooars,” said Sahay.

Airfares may go up as government plans to raise passenger services fee

New Delhi: Passengers should brace themselves for a fare increase, as the government is likely to raise the passenger services fee (PSF) by at least 38% to meet the cost of security at Indian airports. The government, which earlier had plans to not raise PSF and transfer the cost to consolidated fund of India (CFI), will now have to raise it, after the finance ministry declined to fund the deficit.

“The finance ministry has agreed to transfer the cost to CFI but only if it is revenue-neutral for them, which would mean we will have to raise PSF.

Get ready to enjoy Aadhaar-linked seamless air travel from next year

Air passengers flying out of Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Vijayawada will be able to enjoy Aadhaar-based seamless travel from the next year under the government's “DigiYatra” programme.

AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra told Times of India, "Under the Aadhaar-based system, flyers will use stored biometrics to prove identity to enter terminals; their Aadhaar-linked airline database will show what flight they are booked on and similarly linked airport databases will show they have been security screened and allowed access to boarding gate closer to the flight departure time.”

More flights from state to smaller towns on the anvil under UDAN

New Delhi: The state may see additional cheaper flights connecting smaller towns under the 'UDAN' scheme soon.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) is going ahead with the second round of bidding for regional routes and by December 21, it will announce which operator will serve the particular routes.
Of the 141 proposals covering 502 routes received by the Ministry for which the counter-bidding has started, 20 either originate from these three airports or they are a stopover.
Under the UDAN or regional connectivity scheme (RCS), aimed at connecting regional centres, airlines have to cap the airfare for an hour's flight at Rs 2,500. The government will provide viability gap funding (VGF) to bridge the gap, but airlines can choose not to opt for it.

New flights likely from Bhopal for Delhi, other major cities

Bhopal: Four new flights are expected to start from Bhopal from February ensuring better connectivity with major cities. These flights would connect Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur.

This information was given by the airport officials at the meeting of Rajabhoj Airport Environment Management Committee on Tuesday. According to the airport officials, the private airlines would start four new flights and would connect Nagpur as well as Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

92 new flight routes in Northeast under Udaan-2: Jayant Sinha

To provide a major boost to air connectivity in the Northeast, 92 new routes will be opened in the region in the second round of the government's 'Udaan' scheme, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said here.
Sinha also announced a direct bi-weekly Air India flight from Delhi to Imphal from January next year, which he said would be made a daily service when the demand picks up.
No-frills private airlines Indigo will soon start services from Guwahati to Silchar and Aizwal, he said yesterday.
He also announced that Spicejet will be procuring seaplanes that could seat 9-10 passengers and land on smaller airstrips.

Air India, AirAsia to launch flights to Bangkok from Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: After launching a daily flight from the Bhubaneswar international airport to Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia now plans to start services to Bangkok from the city airport.

"Thai AirAsia is slated to start flights from Bhubaneswar in January or February next year. However, it is not decided how many times it will fly in a week", said Ashok Chandra Panda, Odisha's tourism minister.


The minister said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed between Thai AirAsia and the Odisha tourism department to start services.

Panda said, Air India has also proposed to start international flights from Bhubaneswar. It has proposed to fly from Bhubaneswar to Bangkok via Gaya (Bihar).

Indian passengers using technology to skip queues at airports: SITA survey

As India’s passenger growth is choking key airports in the country, air passengers are resorting to technology to skip queues and minimize their travel time, shows a 2017 SITA Passenger IT Trends Survey, a global survey released by IT provider SITA and co-sponsored by Air Transport World.

“While the use of technology among Indian airline passengers remains high at check-in (87%) and booking (52%), 2017 saw tremendous growth in other usage points in the journey. The research showed while adoption remains low, self-bag drop usage climbed to 21% from 12% in 2016,” shows the survey, conducted across seven Indian airports, representing 71% of passengers in the country.