Air taxi services likely to start from Oct in UP

Lucknow: Faster travel would soon be possible within Uttar Pradesh thanks to air taxi services, likely to start in October.
In the first phase, Lucknow-Allahabad, Lucknow-Agra, Lucknow-Meerut and Lucknow-Varanasi would be connected through air.
Responding to a Uttar Pradesh tourism advertisement soliciting expression of interest to set up air taxi services, about 18 companies — including Jet Serve Aviation, Indus Airways, Aryan, Northeast Shuttles, CD Aviation and Fairwinds Aviation — have submitted proposals, said Uttar Pradesh Tourism Director-General (DG) Amrit Abhijat. Six aviation companies had made presentations before Abhijat.

Vistara Slots Itself As 'Luxury' Airline

India’s newest airline, a joint venture between India’s Tata Sons conglomerate and Singapore Airlines, will be a full-service luxury carrier named Vistara. The name is derived from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit and means ‘vast expanse’, connecting with the airline’s domain of flying the limitless skies. Vistara is scheduled to take off in October 2014.
The Delhi-based Vistara unveiled is brand logo, an eight-pointed star, as well as its cabin crew’s uniforms. On its maiden flight, the airline will fly an Airbus 320 and expand its fleet to 20 Airbus aircraft by its fifth year, the airline said in an official statement.
The biggest surprise is Vistara’s positioning as a ‘luxury’ carrier, at a time when Indian airlines are cutting costs and offering no-frills flights. The airline aims to “transform the air traveler’s experience” with an obsession for quality in every aspect of customer engagement, and “will treat travelers as unique individuals and delight them with intuitive thoughtfulness,” the company said in its note.
At the other end of the spectrum, Tata’s joint venture with Malaysia’s low-cost
AirAsia called AirAsia India is disrupting the market with its cheap fares.
Read news in full 13/08/14 Saritha Rai/Forbes

Vistara’s plan is flying

Mumbai: The much-expected announcement of the inauguration of the Tata-Singapore Airlines venture, Vistara, is bound to create a major churn in the Indian aviation which has just seen the arrival of another new airline, Air Asia.
Vistara will take a long time to make an impact on the foreign travel market because of the Jet Airway-Etihad tie up and Air India joining the powerful Star Alliance. Between these two, almost the entire foreign travel from India has almost been sewn up.
So Vistara will have to first make its mark in the domestic market. In this case, the timing may be right because the new airline can bite into the domestic market where Jet Airways is facing turbulent times and is planning to cut out two of its low-cost brands,Jet Konnect and Jet Liteand become a one brand, one pricing, one strategy airline.

Is India’s Latest Airline Startup Doomed to Fail?

India’s aviation market is notoriously challenging. High fuel taxes and airport fees drive up costs while cheap fares proliferate. Into this tumult comes a new player, Vistara, which aims to start flights in October in a country where airlines have tallied almost $10 billion in losses since 2007.
The main difference at Vistara? Premium service. One of the world’s highest-rated carriers, Singapore Airlines (SIA:SP), owns 49 percent in a joint venture with Tata Sons. Vistara will target business-class travelers, an arena where higher fares could help it overcome some of India’s expensive structural costs. It’s starting with five Airbus (AIR:FP) planes this year and plans to grow to 20 in coming years.
“We are confident we have what it takes to make a significant difference in this market, and we will be the finest full-service airline in India,” Vistara Chief Executive Officer Phee Teik Yeoh told Bloomberg Television.

Now, fly to Agra, Varanasi from Lucknow

LUCKNOW: Travelling within Uttar Pradesh and scared of bad roads and erratic trains? Soon, you could fly over these problems, literally. As many as 18 aviation companies have shown interest in operating intra-state air services in the state.

"Around 18 non-scheduled aviation companies have sent their proposals. We are scrutinizing them," said UP Tourism managing director Shashank Vikram. The operators were been invited under an `open sky scheme', whereby there was no restriction the number of operators.

Vistara: Tata-SIA JV airline brand name unveiled; to start operations from October

NEW DELHI: Tata-SIA Airlines on Monday announced that its proposed airline will be called Vistara. Vistara is derived from the Sanskrit word, which means limitless expanse "and draws inspiration from the brand's domain - the limitless sky".

The airline by the Tata Group and Singapore International Airlines is targeting an October Launch. The commencement of operations is subject to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) approval, which is examining the airline's application ..

Six more airlines to spice up Indian aviation menu

New Delhi: Several more new airlines are likely to fly in the Indian sky in the coming months with the government giving flying licence to four of the six companies which had sought permits for launching scheduled, private or charter air operations.
While AirAsia India, Ligare Aviation Limited, Quickjet Cargo Airlines and LEPL Projects Limited have been granted the Air Operator’s Permit (AOP) or the flying licence, the two pending cases are those of Tata-SIA Airlines Limited and Air Pegasus Limited, minister of state for civil aviation G. M. Siddeshwara has said.

6 Indian airlines one step closer to taking flight

In a move that is being touted as a boost for the aviation sector and airline travel in the country, the civil aviation ministry has reportedly given no-objection certificates for three national airlines and three regional airlines in one month.
According to a Mint report, the new minister for civil aviation has given no-objection certificates to Air One Aviation, Zexus Air and Premier Air to become national airlines; and Turbo Megha, Air Carnival and Zav Airways to start regional operations.
All the airlines had applied for the no-objection certificates between 2012-13.

Ex-Air Sahara chief gets nod for new airline

New Delhi: It is raining airlines now. After Tata Sons' JVs with Singapore Airlines and AirAsia, smaller players are now aiming for the Indian sky too.

Alok Sharma, the face of Air Sahara till it was sold off to Jet Airways in 2007, has been given a no objection certificate (NOC) by the aviation ministry to start a regional airline. He plans to start a full service airline Air One in the first quarter of next year. Along with Air One, two other startups have been granted NOCs to start airlines.

Tata-Singapore Airlines moves a step closer to taking off

Mumbai: Tata-SIA Airlines has moved a step closer to taking to the skies with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) saying that there is no reason why the airline’s application for an Air Operator Permit (AOP) should not be considered.

In doing so, the aviation regulator has rejected the objections raised by domestic carriers and other entities, which are likely to be affected by Tata-SIA’s foray into the domestic aviation space.

Disposing the six objections received from the public, the DGCA said that Tata-SIA is registered in India, with two-thirds of its directors being citizens of India. Moreover, substantial ownership and effective control of the joint venture is vested in the hands of Indian nationals, satisfying all conditions for the grant of an AOP, DGCA chief Prabhat Kumar said.

Air Carnival and Zav Airways are new entrants in Indian airspace!

GM Siddeshwara, minister of state for civil aviation told the Parliament that the government has cleared two regional airlines, Air Carnival and Zav Airways, which are expected to launch their services once all other formalities have been completed.

Air Carnival and Zav Airways were given approval on 24th and 30th June, respectively. It appears that Zav Airways plans to enter the Eastern and North Eastern regions to cater to their needs, while Air Carnival will be based in the south. More details are expected to be announced in due course.

Venture with Tata Group competitive collaboration: SIA

Mumbai: Singapore Airlines (SIA), which is in the process of launching a full service carrier in a 49:51 joint venture with Tata Group, has said its partnership with the latter is a competitive collaboration.
"I think there is some compatibility obviously in the relationship. There is competitive collaboration and adversarial competition," SIA senior vice president for product services Tan Pee Teck said during a recent interaction.
He was responding to a question as to what kind of synergy does the SIA look at its JV partner Tatas which has also invested in no-frill carrier AirAsia India.
Noting that Tatas have seen an opportunity in new areas of business by collaborating with SIA, Teck said, "I think you probably know who our adversaries are in the aviation world. Every one is looking for growth in their businesses."

AirAsia takeoff sparks fierce sky contest

Competitors were taken by surprise while industry pundits could not figure out the logic as AirAsia India announced its launch with an Airbus A320 aircraft taking off from Bangalore on June 12 to land in Goa. The announcement came on May 30, which was just the 23rd day after the airline cleared the last hurdle to get the Air Operator’s Permit (AOP) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The launch comes at a time the peak season was to end in days. It defied conventional wisdom as a two-month lean period soon after the launch could mean the risk of compounding loss. Aviation experts were expecting a September launch when the peak season once again begins.

Air Kerala hopes soar with new NDA regime

Kochi: With the new government in place at the Centre and the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi having named Telugu Desam Party’s Ashok Gajapathi Raju as the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Kerala is now looking up for favourable signals from the dispensation for taking off its dream Air Kerala project.
Aviation circles exude confidence in this regard since Modi Government is already known for its pro-growth-oriented outlook and not attaching strings to any sector. At present airline companies registered in India only are discriminated against in the case of flying abroad while foreign airliners without any experience are allowed to fly in and out.
Civil Aviation Minister in the previous dispensation Ajith Singh had spoke about lifting the contentious 5/20 clause that has been working against Indian companies including Air Kerala from operating foreign flights. As per this clause an Indian airline must complete five years in domestic service and should have a fleet of at least 20 planes before it is allowed to fly abroad.

After airlines close ops, diamond traders plan to launch their own

Ahmedabad: After the established airlines closed its operations from the diamond city, a group of four Surat-based  diamantaires (diamond traders) have planned to start an airline to connect Surat with Mumbai and other major cities of Gujarat by November this year.
The group has floated two aviation firms and purchased an aircraft recently while deals to buy more planes or to take them on lease are under way.
“This is the latest Surat model of business,” the group claims. And it is not for profit, but a service to cater the growing demand of business community as well as passengers across the state. “The proposed airline is not for earning profit, but a kind of service for the businessmen. Therefore, it is quite viable and this model is possible only in Surat since the city is known for turning scarcity into opportunity. The association is a part of this project,” said Dinesh Navadia, president of Surat Read news in full Diamond Association.05/06/14 Satish Jha/Kamal Saiyed/Indian Express

AirAsia India maiden flight tickets sold out within 10 minutes

Mumbai: Low-cost carrier AirAsia India, all set to launch operations from next week with a Bangalore-Goa flight, on Tuesday said tickets for its inaugural service were sold out within 10 minutes.
Tickets for the maiden flight (Bangalore-Goa) were sold out within 10 minutes of opening of bookings. Also, AirAsia India sold out 25,000 promo seats within 48 hours of opening for bookings, the airline said in a release.
The Indian subsidiary of Malaysian carrier AirAsia, the latest player in the domestic aviation sector, on Friday last had announced opening of bookings for its inaugural flight with a ticket price of Rs 999, including taxes
"We are very excited by the feedback we received from the market. Our motto has always been to make everyone fly and we have already begun to show that we are true to our promise," AirAsia India Chief Executive Mittu Chandilya said.

Despite opposition, support pours in for Tata-SIA airlines

The Tata Group's plan to launch a full-service carrier with Singapore Airlines may not find support among its rivals but, support is pouring in for the airline from all corners, reports Tarun Shukla, reporter, Livemint. Pilots, engineers, non-profit organizations and even national carrier Air India is not opposing the Tata’s re-entry into aviation. Also Read: Tata-SIA airline to lease 20 A-320 planes to launch flights Only the lobby group of Federation of Indian Airlines, which includes IndiGo, Jet Airways  ,  SpiceJet  and GoAir is opposing the move. Lots of pilots and engineers have infact been writing to the regulator DGCA to give go ahead to Tata-SIA as it is going to give them jobs. After Kingfisher Airlines went down a lot of pilots and engineers are left without jobs. Going ahead, because the matter is already with DGCA, it will review the comments received so far. Tata-SIA is expecting a launch by October. The opposition from lobby group FIA is not expected to have much of an impact and Tata-SIA is likely to sail through unless it runs into legal hurdles.
Read news in full 04/06/14 Moneycontrol

Govt nod to intra-state air services

Lucknow: Get ready to fly from one destination to another within the state. A year after it gave in-principle approval to intra-state air services to boost tourism in the state, the UP cabinet, on Tuesday, came up with a policy for the sector.
According to the policy, the scheduled or non-scheduled carriers weighing 40,000 tonne will be provided VAT-free fuel. They would not be charged anything on landing in any of the air strips. Even the parking will be free of cost.
The ticketing for the carriers will be done by a web portal 'UP tours'. The state government in a statement said the service provider will take care of the safety of the carrier. Besides this, the appointment of pilots and other employee will be done as per the guidelines of the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA).

AirAsia India 'illegal', FIA turns to Narendra Modi govt to scrap permit

Claiming that the approvals granted to AirAsia India were "illegal", Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has asked the Narendra Modi government to advise aviation regulator DGCA not to allow the new no-frill airline to launch its operations which is set for June 12.
"It is our request that the government advise the DGCA not to permit AirAsia India to proceed to fly, that too with merely one aircraft with the sole intent of making the decision (to let them fly) a fait accompli and difficult for the government to review," FIA, a grouping of Indian carriers, said in a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

AirAsia offers 10,000 seats more at Rs 5

Mumbai: AirAsia’s Rs 5 basic fare offer has triggered competition and criticism from rivals, with market leader IndiGo launching a Rs 1 basic fare on AirAsia’s inaugural routes and SpiceJet Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor questioning the silence of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the price war.

On Friday night, AirAsia said it was offering 15,000 tickets at a basic fare of Rs 5 on the Bangalore-Goa and Bangalore-Chennai sectors. In reaction, IndiGo launched its Rs 1 basic fare on these routes. The fares of both exclude taxes and fees. An all-inclusive fare on the Bangalore-Goa route works to Rs 490.