Kannur airport works gain momentum

Even as the construction works of the Kannur international airport are progressing, efforts to get the sanction of the director general of civil aviation and other agencies have gained momentum.
As part of the licensing process, the security vetting committee of the CISF , customs and the bureau of civil aviation security (BCAS) visited the site and evaluated the security system on Thursday .
The committee, led by BCAS southern regional director Sanjay Sharma, held meetings with the senior officials.The inspection would continue on Friday .
"After the site visit and eval uation, the committee would recommend its suggestions and after implementing it, they would evaluate once again before giving the licence prior to commissioning of the airport," said an official with Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL).

Mysuru, Bidar, Ballari airports selected in first phase of UDAN bidding

Three airports in the State — Mysuru, Bidar and Vidyanagar (Ballari) — have been selected in the first phase of bidding for the regional connectivity scheme (RCS), known as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik).

While air connectivity to Vidyanagar airport will commence next month, in Mysuru and Bidar it will be from September.

The all-inclusive airfare under RCS is ₹2,500, and the airfare cap will be indexed to inflation and revised quarterly.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the scheme from Shimla airport on April 27. A total of 45 airports have been selected in the first round of bidding, said Rajiv Nayan Chaube, Joint Secretary of Civil Aviation.

The Airports Authority of India, an implementing agency for RCS, will hold the second round of bidding, for providing air services to 400 unserved airports, in the next two months. The RCS is a demand-driven scheme in which airline operators bid for routes; the State can suggest any airport to be included in the unserved list.

Four SpiceJet flights from Patna soon

Patna: Low-cost airline SpiceJet would commence its flight operation from Jayaprakash Narayan International airport in Patna to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata from July 1.
Airport officials said a booking counter and other operational facilities would be provided to SpiceJet at Patna airport in a day or two. The Gurgaon-based airlines would operate two flights in the morning and another two in the evening from the city airport.

T1 to T2 to T1 to T4 has government and airlines’ heads spinning

New Delhi: Summer peak travel is set to start in about a month and there are serious questions about how Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which operates Indira Gandhi International Airport, will manage the crowds given that Terminal 1 is already a congested nightmare for passengers. Ironically, there is Terminal 2, which is ready for use except that two low cost carriers have baulked at moving there and freeing up T1 for domestic flights. Aviation minister Jayant Sinha has called a meeting of all stakeholders on Thursday to discuss how to unravel this knot.
Sinha, in explaining the master plan for IGIA, hinted at why SpiceJet and GoAir are reluctant to move to the revamped terminal. "Some airlines or flights have to be shifted out of Terminal 1 so construction can begin to expand the facility," said Sinha.

Varanasi airport gets 'major' tag after handling more than 1.5 million flyers in 2016-17

New Delhi: Varanasi may have to wait a few more years for the ongoing redevelopment to show results but its airport already appears to have gained from its exalted status as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

It was recognised as a major airport in January by the central government after it handled more than 1.5 million passengers in 2016-17, completing three years of above-average growth.

The airport, which saw passenger growth of about 8% and 2% during FY13 and FY14, respectively, flew much higher than the national average of over 20% during the past three fiscal years starting fiscal 2014-15.
To Read the News in Full 20/04/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

IndiGo flies high in the Gulf route

Mumbai: The airspace from India to the Gulf is getting increasingly crowded with call signs from IndiGo. The country's biggest carrier by market-share is quietly, but aggressively, expanding in a region that sends the biggest worker remittances, and acts as a hub for onward journey to Europe or the eastern water margin of the US.

And losing out in the bargain are rivals such as Air India Express and Jet AirwaysBSE 6.50 %, the latter reducing seat-capacity in flights to the Gulf, while the Gurgaon-based airline is doing just the reverse. IndiGo has increased its seat-capacity to the Gulf by 40% in the past one year. It now offers 26,460 weekly seats from India to Dubai, Doha, Sharjah and Muscat, the airline said.

Domestic air passenger traffic grows 18% in March

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during the month of March was higher than the same period last year registering a growth of 18.59%.
“During Jan-March 2017 were 272.79 lakhs as against 230.03 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 18.59%,” DGCA report said on Thursday.
The total number of passengers in the month of March alone amounted to 90.46 lakh. In February the passenger count was 86.55 lakh.

AirAsia India Launches Its First Flight From Kolkata, Ranchi

AirAsia India on Saturday launched its first flight from Kolkata and Ranchi as a part of its continued expansion. The carrier, which will connect Kolkata-Ranchi and Ranchi-New Delhi with double daily flights, plans to hire local talent across posts, both on-ground and in-flight from these two cities.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das flagged off the first flight to New Delhi from Ranchi and the first departure from Kolkata was flagged off by airline's chief financial officer Deepak Mahendra and Kesavan Sivanandam, Director, Customer Experience And Ground Operations.
To Read the News in Full 16/04/17 NDTV

Lufthansa To Fly Its Premium Airbus A350 Aircraft From Mumbai To Munich

German airline Lufthansa on Sunday announced debut of its Airbus A350-900 XWB aircraft at Mumbai International Airport. Mumbai will be one of the only three destinations in the world where the airline operates its latest Airbus A350-900 XWB aircraft, Lufthansa said in a release. "The newest addition to the Lufthansa fleet will embark on daily 8-hour flights to Munich, which is also one of the airline's hub location. With a maximum seating capacity of 293 passengers, the cabin has 48 passengers in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy Class and 224 in Economy Class," Lufthansa added.

It also said Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will become the first Indian airport to handle daily operations of two Airbus A350-900 XWB planes.

Airport to get Golden Temple gallery

Amritsar: SGPC has decided to set up a gallery dedicated to the history of Golden Temple at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport.
This was disclosed by SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar while unveiling a huge image of Golden Temple installed at the airport. He said the gallery would be established in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) which would depict the history of Golden Temple and Sri Guru Ram Dass.
To Read the News in Full 20/04/17 Tribune

Separate arrival, departure halls, new conveyer belts soon - Mangaluru Airport director

Mangaluru:  J T Radhakrishna has been serving as the director of Mangaluru International Airport since November 2012. Hailing from Ananthpura, Andhra Pradesh, Radhakrishna joined Indian aviation in 1993 as manager of engineering department. He is the winner of Best Engineer Award for successful planning and implementation of the new terminal at Mangaluru airport in 2010. He has also served in Calicut and Coimbatore airports.

Radhakrishna spoke in an exclusive interview to daijiworld editor-in-chief Walter Nandalike on Daijiworld 24x7 channel's 'Public Challenge' programme.

Excerpts

Q: We have been witnessing a significant increase in passenger inflow every year at Mangaluru airport. But, there has been an increase of only five per cent this year. What is the reason for decline in passengers?

A: A few of the flights have been cancelled this year. Bengaluru runway which is not in operation from the past three months has led to cancellation of flights. Two flights of Air India were affected as only one runway was operational.

Civil aviation, AAI, Amritsar airport director told to hold meeting

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Tuesday asked the Union ministry of civil aviation, Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the director of the Amritsar international airport to hold a meeting with senior advocate M L Sarin, who is amicus curiae, regarding the operation of international flights by private airlines from the holy city. The meeting would be held within three weeks.
Sarin will examine all possibilities of operating flights by private airlines interested in launching operation from Amritsar and submit his assessment to the HC. A division bench headed by Justice S S Saron passed these orders during the hearing of an ongoing petition filed by the Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) against the decision of Air India to divert the Amritsar-Birmingham flight to Delhi. Assistant solicitor general Chetan Mittal has been asked by the bench to facilitate the holding of the meeting.

No more stamping of hand baggage tags at 7 airports

BEGINNING APRIL 1, there will be no security stamping of hand baggage tags at seven major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said Thursday. The other airports where this practice will be scrapped are Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi and Ahmedabad.
The decision comes weeks after Home Ministry had raised the red flag on doing away with this security step. On February 23, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had moved to scrap the stamping of hand baggage but it was put on hold by the Home Ministry after the CISF argued that there wasn’t sufficient technology in place to replace the process.
“Having made the required changes in the security set-up, along with infusion of new technology, we have decided to do away with hand baggage stamping at seven airports.

Flights for big destinations from underserved airports

Commercial flights would connect five underserved airports in the state with cities such as Mumbai and Hyderabad following the ministry of civil aviation's announcement on the results of the first phase of the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) on Thursday.
The ministry announced that flight operations connecting the Nanded airport with Mumbai and Hyderabad would start from June. The airports at Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Solapur and Ozar (Nashik) would have flights to Mumbai from September.
To Read the News in Full 31/03/17 Joy Sengupta & Tushar Pawar/The Times Of India

Small Cities To Get Air Connectivity By Sep

Flight service from Odisha to several small cities will be made operational soon. The Civil Aviation Ministry held a discussion with several airlines companies in this regard on Thursday.

The airline companies chosen for the service under the UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme are Air Deccan and Air Odisha Private Limited.
To Read the News in Full 31/03/17 Odishatv

IndiGo expected to start services from Doha to six Indian cities

India's largest no-frill airlines Indigo plans to launch flights from Doha to India, adding Qatar as the seventh international destination covered by the airlines. This is part of its move to strengthen its footprint in the gulf region. 

According to sources, the airlines plans to launch flights from Bombay, Delhi, Calicut, Cochin, Trivandrum, Chennai to Doha. Though not confirmed, the service is expected to start in second week of April.

When The Peninsula contacted IndiGo airlines, they said, "We haven’t yet confirmed the date."

Finally! Airlines to fly to Jaisalmer this year

Ready but idle for four years, Jaisalmer airport is finally set for a take-off with as many as 128 unconnected-by-air city pairs to get flights between April and September under the first phase of the Centre's affordable regional connectivity scheme.
Five carriers - SpiceJet, Air India's subsidiary Alliance Air, Air Deccan, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha - will operate on these routes, bringing 31 unserved airports on the national flight map apart from utilising 12 under-served airports, the aviation ministry said on Thursday.
To Read the News in Full 31/03/17 The Times Of India

Bengaluru airport gets new board; new terminal to cater to traffic growth

The Bengaluru airport, the third-busiest in the country, now has a new board following Fairfax's acquisition of a 38 per cent stake in the airport.

The Economic Times on Friday reported that Fairfax Chairperson Prem Watsa, two other group executives Chandran Ratnaswami and Harsha Raghavan, and HDFC chairperson Deepak Parekh have been inducted in the Bengaluru airport board as additional directors.

Last week, Fairfax completed its acquisition of 38 per cent stake in the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), which includes 33 per cent stake of GVK Group and five per cent shares held by Zurich Airport. The deal value was around Rs 2,200 crore.

Four airports in Karnataka to benefit from UDAN

Four un-served airports in the state may get a new lease of life from the Union cabinet’s approved plan of spending Rs 4,500 crore to develop or upgrade 50 under-served or unserved airports and airstrips to boost the aviation ministry’s regional flying scheme Udan.

The airports authority of India (AAI), which is the implementing agency of Regional Connectivity Scheme under Udan has received 43 initial proposals from 11 bidders covering 92 airports, 30 currently served, 12 under-served and 50 un-served. Four airports from Karnataka: Bidar, Hubli, Mysore and Vidyanagar are in the list pitted to get the regional connectivity in the un-served category.

Earlier, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had received proposals regarding expansion and facelift of the Belgaum, Hubli and Mysore airports.

43 airports in regional air connectivity scheme

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Civil Aviation Minister has said 43 airports are likely to get flights under regional air connectivity scheme of Government. Besides 13 airports in tier ii and tiers iii cities which did not have many flights in a week will see more flights.

Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, has said that five regional airlines have been selected. He says the total viability gap fund which government estimates it will have to pay is to tune of Rs. 205 crore for RCS.

Air Deccan, Air Odisha, Alliance Air, SpiceJet and Turbo Megha have emerged winners in the first round of bidding under RCS.

Udan scheme: SpiceJet, Alliance Air win bids to fly to remote locations

SpiceJet and Alliance Air were among the five airline companies that won bids to fly to far-flung locations at subsidised rates under the first phase of the government's Udan Regional Connectivity Scheme on Thursday. Others to receive the license included regional airlines Air Deccan, Turbo Megha and Air Odisha.

The government also approved a total of 43 airports that will be a part of the scheme on 128 routes.

The government had received a total of 43 applications from scheduled and non scheduled operators to fly regional routes.

This summer, flying between cities becomes cheaper

Ramakant Desai, a regular train traveller from Pune, took a flight, owing to a sharp drop in prices and more flights to tier-2 cities. "Flights this May are at Rs 3,500, at a cheaper rate compared to last year and we are connected with more routes being added," he said.
This summer vacation; pay less to travel by air within the country as fares have gone down by 30%, compared to last year, travel portals estimate. Competition amid airlines and reduction in oil prices have been the prime drivers for the reduction in prices.
Owing to this trend, travel portals find domestic vacations outpacing international tours with the former growing at 25-27% Y-o-Y and the latter growing between 10-15%, according to data from travel portal Ixigo.

Indian airports handle 254m passengers in 2016

Indian airports handled over 254 million passengers in 2016, an increase of 20 per cent over 2015, a latest passenger statistics from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirms. This means that India moves into fifth place in the global rankings, overtaking Ger-many and behind only the US, China, Japan and the UK.

While the US and China are well out of reach, it is possible that India could overtake the UK - whose airports welcomed over 270 million passengers last year - either in 2017 or maybe 2018, and possibly catch Japan by 2020.

Leading the way among Indian airports was New Delhi, which sailed past the 50 million passenger milestone in 2016 and finished the year handling 55.6 million passengers, an increase of 21 per cent compared with 2015.

Private charter firms to fly on regional routes

Private charter firms Deccan Charter and Air Odisha together are learnt to have bagged around 50 regional air routes to propel Udan — the government’s ambitious regional connectivity scheme. The process of selection of the routes and operators is nearly complete, and the government is likely to make an announcement in this regard in a few days, sources told PTI.
Air India’s subsidiary Alliance Air, regional carrier TrueJet’s holding company Turbo Megha Airways and budget airline SpiceJet are among the other operators that have won the bids for the Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik) flights. While the first RCS (regional connectivity scheme) flight is likely to be operated by Alliance Air to Bhatinda from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport soon, full-scale operations are expected to commence from May, the sources said.
To Read the News in Full 27/03/17 PTI/The Siasat Daily

SpiceJet Starts Twice Daily Delhi-Surat Flights

Amid strong growth in Indian aviation market, SpiceJet has started daily direct service from Delhi to Surat, Gujarat, and back to the national capital. SpiceJet launched the flight with a traditional flag-off and lamp lighting ceremony at Surat airport, the airline - which competes with the likes of Air India, IndiGo, Jet Airways and AirAsia India in the domestic market - said in a press release. The new flight between Delhi and Surat - also known as Gujarat's textile city - is in line with the emphasis being laid on "regional connectivity", SpiceJet added.
SpiceJet also said the new Delhi-Surat flight "is part of its enhanced summer schedule and will augment its connectivity in the domestic sector".

Qatar Airways plans to buy 100 jetliners to launch airline in India

CEO Akbar Al Baker said he was confident that ‘futuristic’ PM Narendra Modi's aviation policy will allow 100% foreign ownership of the domestic airline.

Taking cues from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans for the aviation sector, Qatar Airways is likely to order 100 new jetliners before 2017-end to enter India with a new airline, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker also said the company plans on launching two new routes to the United Kingdom, even though the nation has imposed increased security restrictions.

Laptop ban in flight cabins: Nearly 11 lakh US-bound Indian passengers to be hit

Nearly half of 22.21 lakh passengers traveling from India to the US via transit flights in cities of Middle East, Europe and North Asia will be affected by the Donald Trump administration’s ban on carriage of laptops and any other electronic devices larger than a smartphone in cabin baggage on flights from 10 airports in Middle East and Africa.
While passengers taking Air India’s non-stops flights to the US will not be affected at all, thousands of them using airlines including Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, which halt for transit at cities affected by the US ban, will have to put in their devices in checked in luggage.
Around 82.6 per cent of the total traffic to the US from India transited via Middle East, Europe, North and South Asia in 2016, as per data from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

Zoom Air - India's Newest Airline - Aims High, In Talks To Raise Funds

Zoom Air will soon look at raising funding for business expansion. India's newest full service airline, which marked its entry as the 12th operational carrier in the domestic aviation market on February 15, 2017, started as a debt free organisation, Zoom Air's chief executive officer and director Koustav Mohan Dhar told NDTV Profit. After adding fifth aircraft to its fleet, the airline should be looking at venture capitalists and private equity or PE funds to assist the airline in funding and business expansion in a phased manner, the Zoom Air CEO said in an emailed response.

"It's important that we start our planning for same now and I'm in talks with few PE players to encourage them to look at a sector which has always been negatively portrayed, whereas it remains as very long and sustainable business with global visibility," Mr Dhar said, commenting on the company's business expansion plans going forward.

'India is third largest domestic aviation market'

India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan, an industry report has said.

India’s domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016 and was behind only the US (719 million) and China (436 million), aviation thinktank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in its latest report.

India acquired the third spot globally by unseating Japan, which flew 97 million domestic passengers in 2016, CAPA said.

Airfares set to rise as Centre hikes airport charges

Airfares are set to go up as the government has decided to raise airport charges across all non-major airports operated by Airports Authority of India (AAI) by 5% every year beginning April 1.

This is the second time the government has raise airport charges in the last five months.

The passenger service fee, which is charged as a part of air ticket fare, will increase from ₹85 per passenger at present to ₹89 in 2017-18.

The fee will subsequently be increased to ₹93 in 2018-19 and ₹98 per passenger in 2019-20, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, following the Civil Aviation Ministry’s decision on March 15.

The raise in fares will be applicable on non-major airports such as Amritsar, Nagpur, Bagdogra, Madurai, Vijayawada, Jammu, Vadadora, among others, which handle an annual traffic of less than 15 lakh.

Deccan, Alliance Air, others to fly on regional routes

Private charter firms Deccan Charter and Air Odisha together are learnt to have bagged around 50 regional air routes to propel the government's ambitious regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.

The process of selection of the routes and the operators is nearly complete and the government is likely to make an announcement on this issue in the next few days, sources close to the development told PTI here.

Air India's subsidiary Alliance Air, regional carrier TrueJet's holding company Turbo Megha Airways and budget airline SpiceJet are among other operators which have won the bids for the UDAN flights, the sources said.

Surat set to get state’s third international airport: Sinha

Surat is all set to become the third international airport of Gujarat after Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
Surti flyers' dream to fly to international destinations from the city airport is going to be realized soon. Surat airport is preparing for international flight operations and a private airline company is ready to operate direct flights from Surat to Sharjah and Dubai, said Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha here on Sunday.
Sinha, who was in the city to flag off direct daily flight of SpiceJet between Surat and Delhi, stated that Surat airport will get the customs notified status and be ready for limited international flight operations in the next few months.
"I have literally arm-twisted SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh and he is convinced to start direct flights from Surat to Sharjah and Dubai once the customs facilities are set up at the airport in the coming few months. There are other players too who are keen to operate international flights from Surat," Sinha said.

Croatia Airlines & Air India Sign Codeshare Agreement

Croatia Airlines have announced that they have signed a codeshare agreement with Air India.

Croatia’s national carrier and India’s national carrier have entered into a codeshare agreement on the use of flight with shared codes of both carriers.

Croatia airlines have been Star Alliance member since 2004, whilst Air India joined in 2014.

The agreement, which will come into effect on 1 April 2017, allows for increased choice for the customers of both airlines.

Regardless of the operating carrier, passengers can fly a combination of Air India and Croatian Airlines services using the ticket and code of either of the two airlines.
To Read the News in Full 27/03/17 Croatia Week

Direct flight to Jaipur takes off

The Chandigarh international airport in Mohali today further expanded its wings with the launch of a daily direct flight between Chandigarh and Jaipur. A direct flight between Chandigarh and Bangkok is likely to take off in May. The Bangkok flight, which will be launched by Air India, will initially operate on alternate days, airport officials told The Tribune here today.
With this, the number of domestic flights has gone up to 35 while the direct Bangkok flight will take the number of international flights from here to four. At present, three international flights to Dubai and Sharjah are operating from here.
To Read the News in Full 26/03/17 The Tribune

Madurai gets two more flight services

Madurai airport got two more flight services – one providing the first direct air link to Mumbai by Jet Airways and the other the third service by Indigo connecting Chennai – on Sunday.

A host of dignitaries, including Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan, Head (Administration), Sterlite Copper and Vedanta Limited, Thoothukudi, Paresh Gajjar, Executive Director, People’s Watch, Henry Tiphange and Jet Airways Head (Domestic Sales) - India, V. Raja, General Manager, Sales (South India), U. Shenoy were among those who participated at the inaugural ceremony of the Madurai-Mumbai direct flight service.

Zoom Air - India's Newest Airline - To Fly To New Cities Soon

Zoom Air, India's newest full service airline, plans to operate daily flights to Jorhat and Shillong from May 1, 2017. "Zoom Air introduces daily connections to Jorhat and Shillong wef 1st May 2017 with direct Flights (first time) between Kolkata to Jorhat and Jorhat to Shillong as well as Shillong-Kolkata...," its chief executive officer and director Koustav Mohan Dhar told NDTV Profit in an emailed response. Zoom Air, which marked its entry as the 12th operational carrier in the domestic aviation market on February 15 this year, also added daily direct flights to Durgapur from Delhi and Kolkata recently.

New Air India flights from Vizag

Air India has announced operating some new flight services from Visakhapatnam from April 1. The flights from Visakhapatnam to Bhubaneswar, Raipur and Tirupati would be operated on all days except Wednesdays.

On every Wednesday, flights between Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad would be operated via Vijayawada and Air India is getting ready an ATR aircraft for this purpose, according to information reaching here.

Lucknow airport to get a new terminal

Lucknow:  Lucknow airport may soon get a new terminal. Airports Authority of India on Friday appointed a consultant for development of a terminal building at the airport.
Estimated at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, the integrated terminal building will have facilities for both domestic and international flyers.
The complex, proposed to come up over an area of over 200 acres, was mooted last year but could not take off. The project envisages a grand building with natural light with a large number of baggage handling systems, laser scanners for luggage, tourist visa counters, duty free shops, premium lounge and shops as well as eateries. It will be called as T3 terminal.
To Read the News in Full 25/03/17 Times of India

AI seeks slots for Mumbai flight service from Ozar

Nashik: The state carrier Air India is keen to start a flight service connecting Nashik with Mumbai. It has written a letter to Airport Authority of India (AAI), seeking slots at Mumbai and Nashik airports to start the service connecting these two cities.
Air India said its subsidiary Alliance Air is mulling a Mumbai-Nashik-Mumbai flight and wants AAI to provide slots at Mumbai and Nashik airports.

Vistara starts direct Delhi-Leh flights on weekends

New Delhi: Full-service airline Vistara on Saturday said it has started direct flights on the Delhi-Leh route on weekends.

The frequency will increase to daily flights during peak summer season, starting from May 10, the airline said.

"The airline has begun to operate direct flights between Delhi and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturdays and Sundays from March 25. Vistara has especially configured two Airbus A-320 aircraft for the service," it added.
To Read the News in Full 25/03/17 IANS/Business Standard

Obsessive focus on cost, efficiency made IndiGo BS Company of the Year 2016

InterGlobe Aviation, the company that operates IndiGo, India’s most profitable airline, has redefined aviation in the country. The airline, which started operations in 2006, has become the largest in the country and has proved that it is possible to consistently make profits in the highly competitive domestic aviation industry.

IndiGo has run a tight ship with an obsessive focus on cost. It brought in efficiency to reduce turnaround time, getting more out of each aircraft, without losing focus on quality, cleanliness and customer service. IndiGo was the first airline to tell customers that it respected their time and made “on-time performance” a key metric, and continuously reinforced the message. It also made flying a pleasurable experience with responsive attendants, innovative food and beverages, and quirky merchandise.

The company had announced its arrival with a bang in the 2005 Paris Air Show through a surprise $6 billion order of 100 planes, when very few had even heard about it.

SpiceJet launches first daily direct flight from Kolkata to Dhaka

Mumbai: Homegrown low-cost air carrier SpiceJet on Thursday has launched its first daily direct flight from Kolkata to Dhaka.

The new flight will operate from Kolkata International Airport to Dhaka which is capital of Bangladesh.

SpiceJet has launched its seventh international destination with launch of this new flight and is the first and only low-cost airline to operate a daily direct flight on the route, SpiceJet said in a press release.

Spice Jet outweighs Air India to become 2nd most valued aviation company

Mumbai: SpiceJet has surpassed Air India to secure 2nd place in Most Valued Aviation Company and continue to retain the top position after a stiff competition.
 Spice Jet's m-cap surged to  Rs 5,598 crore which topped Jet's 5,464 crore valuation.
 For the 2nd day, the aviation player was ahead of Air India that has a valuation of Rs 5606.76 crore in the afternoon trade on BSE.
 Spice Jet shares ended in BSE gaining the trade up by 0.80% at Rs 94.20.
 Jet airways shares ended up by 2.38% at Rs 492 per share.
 InterGlobe Aviation operated Indigo, is the most valued aviation player by a wide margin at a market cap of Rs. 36,652.89 crore securing the first position in the list of Most Valued Aviation Company.
To Read the News in Full 24/03/17 India Infoline

Malaysia Airlines eyes cooperation to tap Indian market

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) anticipates more cooperation with Indian airline companies to increase the volume of tourists from India to Malaysia.
Its CEO Peter Bellew said the airline had flights between Malaysia and five Indian cities – Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.
“All our existing permissions to the main cities in India are currently filled but we look forward to future cooperation with Indian carriers to ensure additional tourists to Malaysia,” he said in a statement.
“The recent equalisation of passenger service charges for Asean customers had led to a 15% increase in customers on those routes.”

Ban on cabin gadgets to impact Hyderabad fliers too, many say work will suffer

Hyderabad: The city might not have any direct connectivity with the US, yet several passengers flying to the other end of the globe might now have to 'check-in' their electronic gadgets at the time of boarding their flight from here, much like those headed to the UK.

The reason being the US and UK governments' recent move to ban devices such as tablets, portable DVD players, laptops and cameras from being carried as cabin baggage.The rule, implemented for `security' reasons, applies to passengers booked on nine carriers -Emirates, Etihad, Kuwait Airways, Qatar and Saudi Airways being among them - and flying out of certain countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Morocco and Qatar.

Ban on laptops, iPads in US-bound flights: Here is how Indian travellers will be affected

In another few days, US-bound flights from 10 airports in the Middle East will start banning laptops and other big electronic devices from cabin baggage. Travellers boarding a flight at these airports, or even those who have a connecting flight passing through these airports, will be able to carry large electronic devices only in the check-in baggage.

There is no clarity on why the US government has decided to implement this rule but the said reason is that this is to prevent terrorist attacks. The UK has followed with its own directive although the airports from where it is banning laptops etc in check-in baggage are in some occasions different compared from the list that the US has. For example, the Dubai airport is part of the US list but not the UK one.

Although, the move -- despite its security overtones -- has baffled experts who hint that it might have been done to help US airlines, which are facing touch challenge from the ones in the Middle East. After he became the US president, Donald Trump reportedly spoke to representatives from US airlines and agreed that the market condition for the US carriers was unfair.

India's Alliance Air considering int'l ops

Alliance Air (India) is planning to make its international debut in the coming months with flights to Sri Lanka.

The regional director of parent carrier Air India's southern region, Captain S Arulman, told The New Indian Express flights from Madurai to Colombo Int'l are currently in the planning process.

Alliance Air currently operates two ATR42-300s and eight ATR72-600s on scheduled passenger flights to thirty-four destinations across India.
To Read the News in Full 22/03/17 ch-aviation

Growth in non-scheduled movement of charter planes at Belagavi airport

Bellagavi: Despite less than expected pace of growth in the domestic sector, Belagavi airport has witnessed commendable growth in flight movement of non-scheduled small-size charter planes.

A “B” category airport, it is maintained by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and is perhaps third only to Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport and Mangaluru International Airport to record highest number of such schedules in the State. The year 2016 (from January 1 to December 31) witnessed as many as 60 private airlines/operators landing/taking off from Belagavi airport.

Airfares in India among ‘lowest’ globally: Jayant Sinha

New Delhi: India has one of the lowest and “most competitive” airfares in the world despite high cost of planes and fuel, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said on Wednesday. “These are the two most important costs for an airline. Our taxes are also quite high,” said the Minister of State for Civil Aviation.
“But when you look at pricing in India, as far as Indian airlines are concerned, I can assure you that we are among the lowest and most competitive air fares in the world,” he added.
In efforts to make air travel more affordable as well as connect unserved and under-served airports, the government has come out with the regional connectivity scheme.

In-flight restrictions: Connecting flights to US via Gulf not a great idea

New Delhi: Indian passengers headed to the US will be inconvenienced by the new Trump administration order regarding carriage of certain electronic devices on US-bound flights from West Asian (Middle East) and North African countries even though India does not feature on the restriction list.

Travellers headed to the US from eight Muslim-majority countries in West Asia and North Africa, including from major global hubs like Dubai, have been barred from carrying electronic devices larger than a cell phone, like cameras and laptops, as cabin baggage under a new flight restriction enacted on Tuesday by the Trump administration.

Since, under the new order, all US-bound passengers originating or transiting through airports like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Doha will have to carry any electronic devices larger than a smartphone in checked luggage only, this could mean that any Indian passengers, who have historically travelled to the US via these hubs, would have to look for direct flights.

Ban on laptops, tabs on flights set to hurt techies

Bengaluru: Directi CEO Bhavin Turakhia travels to Dubai, San Francisco and Los Angeles on work regularly. Emirates and Etihad are his preferred airlines. He says the US and UK ban on passengers carrying electronic devices -anything bigger than a cellphone -in their cabin baggage on flights originating in the Middle East will inconvenience him enormously and he may be forced to look at other airline options.
"It's a 14-hour flight to San Francisco or Los Angeles and I spend most of that time working on my laptop," said Turakhia, who travels first class. He, along with his brother Divyank, has business interests spanning the US, Dubai and India.
Last year, he sold one of their companies -Media.net -to a Chinese consortium for $900 million. Turakhia said he may now look at British Airways, Lufthansa or Singapore Airlines "though none of them is as good as Etihad or Emirates."
The new US rule applies to ten airports in eight co untries in the Middle East, including the Dubai International Airport that has emerged as a major transit hub for Indians travelling to the US, including for many IT professionals from cities like Bengaluru. Hours after the Trump administration's an nouncement, the United Kingdom, too, made a similar decision.

Jet Airways, Air India to gain from US ban on flight gadgets

New Delhi: Jet Airways and Air India will benefit from the ban imposed by the US government on large electronic devices from cabin luggage on passenger flights from eight Muslim-majority countries, as business travellers prefer to work on laptops and iPads while on long-duration flights, industry executives told ET.
The ban will apply to non-stop flights to the US and the UK from 10 international airports serving the cities of Cairo in Egypt; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait City in Kuwait; Casablanca in Morocco; Doha in Qatar; Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; Istanbul in Turkey; and Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Travel industry insiders say that business travellers prefer to work on board and taking away laptops would surely make them shift to Indian carriers.

Domestic aviation market grows 16% in February

The domestic aviation market grew 16 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in February with the domestic airlines carrying 8.7 million passengers, compared with 7.5 million a year ago during the same month. The number of passengers during April-February increased 22 per cent y-o-y, indicating a continuing structural upswing in demand, the latest monthly data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed.
The passenger-load factor (PLF) of the industry was constant at 83 per cent during the month and Indigo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet continued to hold around a 71 per cent market share. After reporting its highest ever load factor in December (93.7 per cent), SpiceJet again hit a similar high in February.

Device ban opens US/UK skies for carriers of exempt countries

New Delhi: The Trump administration and the British government’s decision to not allow passengers flying from certain airports in West Asia and Africa to carry their personal electronic devices in cabin baggage could open an opportunity for Singapore Airlines, Air India and other carriers.

David Lim, General Manager India, Singapore Airlines, told BusinessLine, that “some Indian customers will switch (to Singapore Airlines for its non-stop service connecting Singapore and San Francisco),” but he was equally clear that the airline will not market the ban. “I do not think we will market it by saying fly Singapore Airlines and you can use your laptop or iPad. We will always focus on connectivity, convenience and service. This is how we will also market our flights to the American West Coast, irrespective of the ban.”

Vinod Hejmadi, Director (Finance) Air India, was of the opinion that the ban could help the airline increase the passengers it carries in business and first class.

India business leaders plan to avoid Gulf carriers in flights to the US

Mumbai: Business leaders and companies in India say they are planning to avoid flying to the US on Gulf carriers so they can carry their laptops and tablets on board with them, even if it means paying more for tickets.

The US has imposed a ban on devices bigger than a smartphone in cabin baggage on flights from eight countries in the Middle East region including the UAE and Qatar.

"I won’t travel with those airlines via the Gulf anymore," said Asoke K Laha, the founder and chief executive of InterraIT in India, a California-based IT company, who flies to the US regularly via Abu Dhabi with Jet Airways and Etihad Airways in business class. "I need my laptop. I read books on the iPad."

He would opt to fly with United Airlines or with Lufthansa via Europe instead, he said.

In addition, he plans to ask his employees to avoid travelling via the Middle East, even if the fares are more expensive on alternative routes.

AirAsia India announces two new routes

New Delhi: Budget carrier AirAsia India today announced the induction of the ninth Airbus A320 aircraft in its fleet, besides commencement of flight services to two new destinations, including Kolkata, from next month.

As part of its expansion plans, the company will commence daily flight services between Kolkata and Ranchi, besides connecting Ranchi with the national capital from April 15, the airline said in a release.

Development of Airports in Chhattisgarh

Delhi: For development of Bilaspur airport and Raigarh airport in Chhattisgarh, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has projected the requirement of 387.3 acres of land at Bilaspur and permanent transfer of the existing airport land of 23 acres along with an additional 569 acres of land at Raigarh. Acquisition and handing over of land free of cost and free from all encumbrances by the State Government is the pre-requisite for development of these airport projects.
Two airports in Chhattisgarh, viz. Bilaspur and Raipur belong to AAI. Raipur Airport has already been upgraded to international standards with Integrated Terminal Building. Although, Indian carriers are free to mount services from any point in India to foreign destinations as per the respective bilateral air service agreements, actual operations are always guided by traffic demand and commercial judgement of airlines.
To Read the News in Full 21/03/17 Business Standard

Dreams of cheap airline tickets may be still fare fare away

Some of the deeply discounted fares that low-cost carriers offer have — contrary to popular perception — only a few seats available at the special rate.

Though it varies from one airline to another, only between 8 per cent and 10 per cent of the seat factor (the number of seats filled) is allotted for the most discounted fares. So, an airline with an 85 per cent seat factor or passenger load factor (PLF) of an 180-seater A320 will have about 12-15 seats reserved for the highest discounted fare.

Therefore, the ₹899 fare that a few airlines regularly offer could get filled up as soon as the window opens. In some cases, an airline may decide not to offer any discounts for a particular flight if the traffic is too heavy.

Chennai airport ranks third in foreign tourist arrivals in February

Chennai: Chennai airport registered arrival of 6.72 % foreign travellers in February ranking third among airports in the country in receiving international tourists. Airports in New Delhi and Mumbai secured the first and the second places with 31.86 % and 16.10 % respectively in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs).
According to an official statement, the number of FTAs in February, 2017 was 9.56 lakh.
"The growth rate in FTAs in February, 2017 over February, 2016 is 13.0% compared to 11.3% in February, 2016 over February, 2015," the statement said.

Air India awarded $10mn in Dynamic Airways Hajj dispute

An arbitration proceeding in Delhi, India, has awarded Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l) INR657.1 million (USD10.06 million) in its case against Dynamic International Airways (2D, Greensboro) concerning a failed Hajj pilgrimage contract.

Air India contracted Dynamic to provide it with India-Saudi Arabia charter capacity in 2013 and 2014. However, problems arose in 2014 when Dynamic allocated four instead of five aircraft to carry out the charter agreement, relying on a clause that Air India would make up the flights that Dynamic didn't undertake. As such, instead of ferrying nearly 72,000 pilgrims, it only transported roughly 47,000.

As a consequence of the inadequate capacity, numerous flights were either delayed or cancelled leading Air India to seek legal recourse.

New US flight rules: Indian authorities await official word

New Delhi: Indian aviation authorities will wait for official communication from the US before deciding on whether to issue any travel advisory following the American government's ban on big electronic devices in cabin baggage on flights from select Middle East and African nations.

In a new order, the American government has barred travellers going to the US on flights from select countries from carrying large electronic devices like cameras and laptops as cabin baggage.

As per the restrictions, passengers would have to check-in any devices bigger than a smartphone -- including iPads, Kindles and laptops -- before clearing security or boarding.

The latest decision of the US administration is "more of a security issue rather than a safety issue", a senior DGCA official told PTI.
To Read the News in Full 21/03/17 PTI/Economic Times

India airline move to support Doha’s aviation hub plan

After a long turbulent patch, India’s aviation industry is finally taking off.
The country is projected to be the world’s third-largest aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030. The increase in local air passenger traffic – estimated to reach half a billion in a decade – has outpaced all other markets for 22 straight months. The growth has been helped by demand from middle-class travellers in smaller cities, and encouraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vow to fund airlines’ losses if they fly to remote areas.
Last year, India became one of the few countries in the world to allow a 100% foreign-owned airline to operate on local routes. Foreigners now can own all of an Indian airline, but an overseas carrier can only control 49%.
Qatar Airways, in collaboration with the Qatar Investment Authority, will apply “soon” to authorities in India to start a short-haul airline there with a fleet of 100 narrow-body planes, chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker said at the recent ITB Berlin travel fair.
The economic engine of the Gulf region practically runs on an estimated 8.5mn strong Indian workforce (two-thirds of Indian citizens living abroad are in Gulf states), with the bulk of these coming from Kerala.