AirAsia India Sells Tickets From Rs. 917 In New Year Sale

Budget carrier AirAsia India is selling all-inclusive tickets from Rs. 917 under its New Year Sale offer. AirAsia India's offer is open till January 1, 2017, and is applicable on travel between March 1, 2017, and October 31, 2017.

AirAsia India's Rs. 917 fare is applicable on Bengaluru-Kochi, Bengaluru-Goa and Bengaluru-Hyderabad routes. The fares on New Delhi-Goa and New Delhi-Bengaluru routes start from Rs. 2,917 and Rs. 2,217, for example.

AirAsia India currently flies to 11 destinations with its two hubs in Bengaluru and New Delhi, covering Chandigarh, Jaipur, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Vizag, Kochi and Hyderabad. 

'New biz models can improve efficiency in aviation sector'

New business and process models will help the aviation sector in optimising cost and improving efficiency, says a report.

Titled 'Impact of ICT on Indian Aviation', the report said digital solutions could also revolutionise the way talent is skilled and groomed to enter the sector.

The country's aviation sector is on the cusp of aggressive growth and technology disruption, it said.

Prepared by leading consultancy KPMG and technology solutions provider for the airlines industry SITA, the report emphasised that key to success for airports and airlines would be to create a carefully crafted digital strategy and road map.
To Read the News in Full 18/12/16 PTI/Z Business

KQ gets big lift from increased India flights deal

National carrier Kenya Airways has received a big boost from the signing of an agreement that gives it the right to introduce seven more weekly flights to India, one of Kenya’s strongest trade partners.

A communiqué from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation indicates that the two countries recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing carriers from both countries to get into more codeshare agreements.

India is one of Kenya’s biggest trade partners with imports from the Asian country valued at Sh253 billion last year. “As per the mandate given India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, a MoU was signed, whereby seven additional frequencies were allowed to both sides,” the communiqué stated.

Forget ID cards, use Aadhaar number to fly

You may soon not have to worry about carrying physical identity documents at metro airports as a plan for biometric authentication of flyers is all set to take off.

After the successful pilot run for Aadhaar-based airport entry authentication for passengers at the Hyderabad airport, the Mumbai and Bengaluru airports are planning to take up similar pilot projects.

Hyderabad pilot project

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad started a pilot project last year allowing passengers to enter their Aadhaar number at kiosks set up at one of the entry gates. The authorities now plan to implement the exercise at all entry gates.

Airports to now be ranked in India based on services, those with poor facilities will be named and shamed

New Delhi: Gone are the days when you had to compromise with poor service and pathetic hygiene of an airport. Now if new rules come into play, not only will the repeat offenders be publicly named and shamed, but will also be penalised.
If Airport regulator AERA or Airport Economic Regulatory Authority of India is to be believed, it has taken a decision to rate airports based on services. Airports will be incentivised or penalised based on their services.
And the rankings will be made public.

Airlines want direct line to passengers

Domestic airlines have approached the Centre to enable them to communicate directly with passengers in case of rescheduling of flights, especially during the fog season, citing difficulties in informing those who book their tickets through travel agents about flight delays and other critical information.

“Every morning, we wake up to fog in Delhi and I see irate customers on the social media asking us why they weren’t informed about the flight delay,” Vistara chief strategy and commercial officer Sanjiv Kapoor said at the inaugural of the two-day India Aviation ICT Forum 2016, organised by global air transport IT provider SITA here.

Now, fly to Bangkok from Lucknow

Lucknow: Flyers from Lucknow planning to visit Bangkok may not need to go to Delhi or Kolkata to catch a flight.
On Friday, a private carrier began a direct flight connecting the state capital with Bangkok, the international tourist destination in the south-east Asia.
The flight will operate three days a week -Wednesday , Friday and Sunday . It will take off from Lucknow at 1.20am to reach Bangkok at 6.25am. The return flight will take off from Bangkok at 10pm to reach Lucknow around 12.30am.

Delhi airport is the busiest in the world for Airbus A320 flights

Mumbai: Delhi airport is in headlines because of fog and flight delays but there is some cheerful news too.

Delhi airport sees the highest number of Airbus A320 flights in the world, according to a report by aviation website anna.aero.

The website, which tracks airline network planning, analysed aircraft type wise departures for the first week of August. The report was released earlier in the week.
While Dubai airport has the highest number of Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 flights, Delhi tops the list for A320 movements.

Airlines yet to integrate cyber security with business plans

Indian airlines are yet to integrate cyber security into their business plan even as the majority of the carriers see the issue as a board level priority, according to an industry report.
However, cyber security is an area earmarked for major IT investment by every Indian airline, the 2016 India IT Trends Benchmark report released by SITA said in Bambolim.
Geneva-based SITA, a leading player in air transport solutions and information technology, also said there has been some progress made in terms of developing cyber security plans in the past three years.

Six airports to do away with stamping of baggage

The union government on Thursday initiated a trial run for 'non-stamping' of passengers' baggage tag at the time of boarding the aircraft at six airports.

According to Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju the trial run at six major airports will facilitate hassle-free movement of passengers with hand baggage.

"This is a very progressive step and will facilitate hassle-free movement of the passengers. This will also bring down the traversal time at the airports," the minister was quoted as saying in a statement.

More international connectivity is need of the hour

Traders and industrialists have for long been demanding more international flights from Madurai. At present, Dubai and Sri Lanka are the only two foreign countries connected directly by Madurai airport. Although many foreign operators are willing to launch flights from the city airport, especially in the backdrop of international cargo facility, they could not do so in the absence of a bilateral treaty. The traders want the ministry of civil aviation to take steps to ensure more flights connecting various international destinations.

New Year set back; Kingfisher, Jet to hike price

Flying within India will become costlier from the New Year with two major airlines, Kingfisher and Jet Airways, hiking fuel surcharge by up to Rs 200 per ticket with immediate effect.
As global crude prices touched $90 a barrel, state-owned oil firms hiked jet fuel prices from midnight tonight by almost 2 percent, the sixth straight increase in rates since Oct 2010.
The two airlines on Jan 1 increased their fuel surcharge by Rs 100 for travel up to 750 km and Rs 200 for flights covering a distance of over 750 km.
Kingfisher spokesperson informed that the increase in fuel surcharge was necessitated due to the recent hikes in the jet fuel prices.
To Read the News in Full 17/12/16 PTI/oneindia

Jet Airways names Bangalore as future hub

Jet Airways(9W, Mumbai Int'l) has named Bangalore Int'l as a future hub, with two new international routes launching from the southern Indian city in the next two weeks.

Vice-president (commercial) Praveen Iyer confirmed that Bangalore was an increasing focus. “Given the rising importance of the city, we intend to make it our third domestic hub in the near future," he said.

The LCC launched its Bangalore - Singapore Changi route this week on a B737-800. The route is currently served by Tiger Airways (TR, Singapore Changi) and Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi), which offer daily redeye flights, and SilkAir (MI, Singapore Changi) which operates a 5x weekly morning run.

Airlines from Sri Lanka allowed unlimited flights to metros

Airlines from Sri Lanka will be allowed to operate unlimited flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Sri Lanka is among the six countries with which “major issues were resolved” under the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) at the recently concluded International Civil Aviation Negotiations, an official statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation said. The NCAP calls for India to look at having “open skies” agreements with various countries.

Aviation ministry likely to introduce biometric screening at airports

Your thumb could soon be all the documentation required to enter an airport. And once the government is able to achieve this the second phase could see you flashing your thumb to board the aircraft, at least for domestic flights.
While it may sound as science fiction, the aviation ministry has already started work on the first part and Hyderabad airport has successfully completed a pilot project on using biometric identification for allowing entry into the terminal there.
"Over a billion (100 crore) Aadhar cards have been issued so far. At the time of issuing these cards, biometrics, fingerprints and iris scans, are taken and fed into a national digital registry. Presently, air travellers have to show their air ticket and a valid identity card to enter airports.
To Read the News in Full 17/12/16 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India