'Zoom' to Delhi from Kolkata via Durgapur soon

A little over six months after Air India withdrew its operation in the Kolkata-Durgapur-Delhi route, Zoom Air, a Delhi-based airlines, starts its operation in the same routes seven days a week from Sunday. Kaji Nazrul Islam Airport (Andal) will also act as the regional hub of the company.

Interestingly, GoAir and In diGo have proposed to operate flights from KNIA, but the proposals are yet to take final shape. Bhutan and Bangladesh Airlines are also interested as reported earlier.

GoAir launches four additional flights from Hyderabad

Budget carrier GoAir today announced the commencement of four additional flights from Hyderabad to five new destinations including Goa and Bagdogra besides launching a direct flight connecting Kochi and Ahmedabad.

Effective today, these additional flights from Hyderabad would provide non-stop connectivity from the Telangana capital city to Goa, Port Blair, Pune, Guwahati and Bagdogra, a release said.

Air passenger traffic in India to grow 21-23% in 2016-17: CRISIL

Crisil Research estimates domestic passenger traffic in India to grow 21-23 percent on-year in 2016-17, primarily on account of lower air fares following decline in fuel prices and high competition. In 2017-18, growth in domestic passenger traffic is expected to moderate to 15-17 percent on-year, on account of relatively flat fares – projected to rise 0-2 percent. Economic growth, low fares and better connectivity to tier-II and -III cities would be the key growth drivers. During the year, domestic passenger load factor (PLF), though, is expected to decline 100–200 bps to 81-82 percent because of fleet expansion.

‘Makes sense for IndiGo to shift to T2’

SpiceJet chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said on Monday that it would make “some sense” for low-cost airline IndiGo to shift its domestic operations to Terminal-2 (T2) of the Delhi airport.

“There are news report that IndiGo wants to shift [to T2]. They have the size and scale to be able to do it. If they operate large number of flights, it makes some sense for them. For us, it doesn’t fit. We have just recovered from a pretty bad situation and to undergo this shift would make it difficult for us,” Mr. Singh said at the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Budget AajTak event here.

Clean Sweep for SpiceJet at Asia One Awards, Singapore

It was a clean sweep for India’s favourite airline –SpiceJet at the Asia One Awards, Singapore – as it walked away with top recognition in three prime categories. The airline which has been trending all through 2016 with multiple awards and accolades was adorned ‘Asia’s Greatest Brands – 2016’ by the Asia One Board. The selection process was supervised by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Mr. Ajay Singh, who has scripted the most remarkable turnaround story of recent times, was honored with the title of the ‘Global Asian of the year’ while Chief Financial Officer Mr. Kiran Koteshwar won the award for ‘Asia’s Greatest CFO 2016’.

IndiGo owner Q3 net profit falls 25 percent on high fuel costs, lower yields

New Delhi: InterGlobe Aviation, owner of India's largest airline IndiGo, suffered its biggest fall in quarterly net profit, hit by high fuel costs and lower yields, as competition and the government's demonetisation move put fares under pressure.

Net profit for the October-December quarter fell 25 percent to 4.87 billion rupees ($71.8 million) compared with 6.5 billion rupees last year. Total income from operations rose 16 percent to 49.86 billion rupees.

Yields, a measure of fares and distance flown, fell 16 percent during the quarter, said Rohit Philip, the airline's chief financial officer, adding that it expects yields to have fallen by 10 percent in January.

Economic Survey: Will Air India fly to corporate hands, as hints of privatisation in Civil aviation sector surface

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on January 31, tabled the Economic Survey 2016-17, and one of the key points was the call for more privatisation in Civil Aviation and other sectors with an aim to further the economic reforms process. The Economic Survey has put across the issues in privatising public companies also in the case of enterprises which are believed to belong to the private sector. Will Air India, which has been floating on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package from the central government, lead the pack in the privatisation in the civil aviation space?
On the privatisation process in India, the Economic Survey says, “India is now squarely in the middle of the emerging market pack. This is partly because India has allowed the private sector entry into, amongst others, civil aviation, telecommunications, and financial services.”

Apply Same Rule For All Players: Spicejet On OTP System Review

With the aviation regulator DGCA reviewing airlines' on-time performance (OTP) mechanism at four airports, budget carrier SpiceJet on Monday called for applying same rules for all players and making the system more efficient.

"If data is challenged, do it in a better way ... as long as rules are same for everybody, then there is no problem," SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said on Monday.

His comments came against the backdrop of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) setting up a committee late last year to look into the OTP monitoring system of domestic carriers at four airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru after another budget carrier IndiGo complained that the current system was flawed.

In pursuit of profit, Air India shortlists 3 consulting firms

Loss-making national carrier Air India has shortlisted three top consulting companies - McKinsey and Co., Bain and Co., and EY - to beef up its business strategy, according to Mint .
Ashwani Lohani, Chairman and Managing Director of the state-run airline, said the firms had been shortlisted based on several presentations that had been made after Air India floated a tender last October inviting proposals for the project.
“They [the firms] will helps us in improving our network, cash flow and other things,” said Lohani.

AAI to construct 170 parking bays as airlines look to import more aircraft

The Airports Authority of India is to build 170 aircraft parking bays and six hangars at the airports that it runs in the country.

The exact number of parking bays and the airports they will come up in will be decided soon, a senior AAI official told BusinessLine. It is likely that the construction of the aircraft parking bays will not include the airports at the four metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Technically speaking, these airports are no longer with AAI but are run as joint ventures with the private sector.

Airline Flash Sale starting at Rs 899: Last 2 days of special offers from SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Air Carnival

Air travel is getting cheaper by the day and more and more airlines are offering great discounts especially to the economy class travelers. This has opened up a large number of travel opportunities for backpackers and budget travelers. Week after week, there are new offers being rolled out offering cheap airfares on flights. You can fly to your favorite destinations all across India without spending a bomb. All you need to do is plan well in advance and avail these offers when they present themselves. One such sale going on right now is the Airline Flash Sale with flights starting at Rs 899.
To Read the News in Full 30/01/17 Dilip Merala/India
 

Boeing and spicejet Announce Largest Order in Carrier's History

Boeing and SpiceJet recently announced an order for 205 new airplanes, including 100 more 73 MAX 8s. This is the largest order in the history of SpiceJet. The contract also includes the low-cost carrier’s current order of 42 MAXs, 13 new 737 MAXs and the purchase rights of 50 additional airplanes.

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet said the company is anticipating the order will increase its competitive advantage. "The Boeing 737 class of aircraft has been the backbone of our fleet since SpiceJet began, with its high reliability, low operation economies and comfort," Singh said.

SpiceJet ready to shift part of its operations to Delhi's Terminal 2

SpiceJet is willing to shift part of its operations from Delhi's domestic terminal T1D to T2 so that the airport operator can undertake modernisation work.

The airport operator GMR-led Delhi International Airport (DIAL) has asked IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir to shift operations from Terminal-1 (T1D) they currently operate so that the expansion work of the terminal can begin.

"We are willing to shift our operations to Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru, provided we get more time to undertake the process," said SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh.


Singh felt the time given to undertake the process was too less. "One has to realign all the flights that has is connected to these three cities, we need some time for that operation," he said. DIAL Chief Executive Officer Prabhakara Rao wrote to the heads of the three airlines that as there was no consensus between them over who would shift, all three would have to partly shift operations from February 15.

More frisking booth for women at airport

Chennai: After years of putting up with fewer frisking booths at the Chennai airport, women are finally going to get some relief. The domestic terminal will soon have two additional frisking booths for women. At present, there are only six booths for women in contrast to 14 for men, officials said.

This move comes after women passengers repeatedly raising the issue and even tkaing to social media such as Twitter.

Sriram V ‏@MadrasMobile tweeted recently: “Dear Airports Authority of India — what’ the logic behind 8 security queues for men and just one for women at #ChennaiAirport?”

Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University to Launch Executive Development Programme

Delhi: The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University in collaboration  with US-India  Aviation Cooperation  Programme will be launching its first Executive Development Programme  on Thursday 2nd February, 2017.

The programme will be delivered by highly-learned experts in the aviation sector and shall cover key topics such as Next Generation Transportation Systems, Airport Planning,  Air Traffic Flow Management, Safety and Security and Sustainability in Aviation.