Maharashtra Tourism Signs MoU with Etihad & Jet Airways to promote Tourism

Maharashtra Tourism signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Etihad and Jet Airways, aiming to boost tourism by attracting more visitors to the state and leveraging the airline’s expanding international network.

Valsa Nair Singh, Principal Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Government of Maharashtra, signed MoU with Neerja Bhatia, Regional General Manager of Etihad Airways and Jayaraj Shanmugum, Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways in the presence of Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister; Jaykumar Rawal, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra , Dr. K.H. Govinda Raj, Managing Director of MTDC among others.

Qatar Airways to launch domestic airline in India, Bengaluru to likely serve as hub

Qatar Airways, a state-owned enterprise of the middle eastern nation, has decided to operate a domestic carrier in India. The airliner will be applying with the Qatar investment authority (QIA)  for an operating licence within the next few weeks.
The proposed domestic carrier would be owned majorly by the Qatar Investment Authority, with Qatar Airways have a minor share of 49 per cent. The fleet will consist of will consist of approximately 100 aircraft.
According to a report by Reuters, the airline’s Chief Executive, Akbar al-Baker, told reporters in Dubai that aircraft manufacturers like Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer would be welcome to bid for orders from the proposed Indian carrier.

Brussels Airlines sees strong demand in Indian market

Sounding optimistic about the Indian market, Lufthansa group subsidiary Brussels Airlines today said it sees “strong” demand for its offering from here. Brussels Airlines, which is 100 per cent owned by the German airlines’ group Lufthansa, commenced its air services into India last month with a flight to Mumbai from Brussels. The airline currently operates five flight per week from Brussels airport to the Chhtrapati Shivaji International Airport here.
“The demand for direct flights for passengers as well as for cargo is high. With our new service, we offer the diamond and travel industry direct flights, which is an important investment in our network expansion, but also in the economic relations between India and Belgium,” Brussels Airlines Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Management Board Brussels Airlines, Bernard Gustin said during a media briefing.

Navi Mumbai International Airport’s runway, terminal may be ready before scheduled deadline

The first terminal building and runway of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) may be completed before the scheduled deadline of December 2019, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which has given the task of the proposed airport has said. As per an Indian Express report, the groundwork for the construction of the airport, which had got its Stage II environment clearance recently, could begin soon. It is expected that the airport when comes into being, will take the load off from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Bhushan Gagrani, MD, CIDCO said that the environmental clearance has been received and the company planned to start the work at the earliest.

Trujet launches flights to 3 routes under ‘UDAN’

Trujet, the Hyderabad-based regional airline, has announced on Tuesday that it is launching its services on three new routes from Thursday, under the aviation-ministry mooted UDAN scheme. With this development, Trujet becomes the only flight-service on the routes of Hyderabad-Cuddapah, Hyderabad-Nanded and Nanded-Mumbai.

Vankayalapati Umesh, Managing Director, Turbo Megha Airways Pvt Ltd, was quoted in a statement saying, “Providing Air Connectivity on hitherto unconnected sectors is part of our strategy of connecting un-served and under-served markets.”

First Direct International Flight Takes Off From Bhubaneswar Airport

The first direct flight to an international destination took off from Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar today marking the beginning of a new era in civil aviation in this part of the world.

The Air Asia flight was scheduled to depart from Bhubaneswar at 11:55PM to Kuala Lumpur.  In the preliminary phase, the flight will operate 4 times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Airport takes global flight

AirAsia gave the city its first international flight, connecting the state capital to Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysia-based budget airline will operate its flight from here four days a week - on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

While the flight with 180 seating capacity was scheduled to land at the Biju Patnaik International Airport at 11.25pm, the return journey was scheduled for 11.55pm.

State tourism and culture minister Ashok Panda was present at the airport for the inaugural event.

"This is a proud moment for the state and the flight service will be a perfect gateway to travel destinations, such as China, Japan and other South-East Asian destinations. Besides tourists coming to Odisha will no longer have to come via Calcutta.

AirAsia Starts Operations On Kuala Lumpur-Bhubaneswar Route

AirAsia commenced its operations between Kuala Lumpur and Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. "We've landed in #Bhubaneswar!" the Malaysian carrier said on Twitter announcing the launch of its Kuala Lumpur-Bhubaneswar operations. With four weekly direct flights from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian airline added Bhubaneswar to its list of destinations in India. The Kuala Lumpur-Bhubaneswar flight marks AirAsia's 14th route into India. The new route - Kuala Lumpur-Bhubaneswar - will be operated exclusively by AirAsia Berhad (flight code AK). "It's #Bhubaneswar! We're flying 4x weekly!" it had said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Civil Aviation Ministry to check overbooking by airlines

The Civil Aviation Ministry has swung into action to crack down on the incidence of overbooking on domestic flights which rose by more than 60% in the last eight months despite stiff compensation rules for airlines.

Such overbooking has resulted in thousands of passengers being denied boarding despite holding a ticket.

“We may issue clear guidelines for airlines to follow in case they deny boarding to passengers on overbooked flights,” said a senior ministry official.

Civil Aviation Secretary R.N. Choubey has called a meeting with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief B.S. Bhullar and other officials from the DGCA and the Civil Aviation Ministry to discuss the rising number of boarding denial cases in 2016-17.

Despite laptop ban, Dubai still popular among Indians flyers

The impact of travel bans and electronic device restrictions has started showing on overall passenger traffic volumes at the Dubai airport as traffic to North America fell 4.3% during March compared to the same period last year.
In the last week of March, the US department of homeland security banned "all personal electronic devices larger than a cellphone or smartphone" from the carry-on bags of passengers who board direct flights to the US from the airports in Amman (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkey), Jeddah and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait, Doha (Qatar), Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

First runway, terminal to be ready by Dec 2019: CIDCO

THE first runway and terminal building of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) could be completed before the deadline of December 2019, said officials of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), the nodal agency for the proposed airport.
Major groundwork on the construction work for the airport, which received its Stage II environment clearance last week, could begin soon.
The proposed airport will take the load off the severely-congested Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai, it is expected. The clearance was needed to commence major construction works in the forest areas of the site.
“With the environmental clearance received, we aim to begin the work at the earliest. We are hoping to complete the work of the first runway and the terminal building of the airport till the stated deadline.

Bangalore Airport slashes carbon emissions by 57%, gets green award

In a big boost to the Kempegowda International Airport today, the Airports Council International on Friday accredited it with a certificate of Level 3 Plus Neutrality under the Airport Carbon Accreditation. According to a report by the Times of India, the Bangalore International Airport managed to upgrade the airport to Level 3 Plus Neutrality, the highest level of environmental certificate, that has been made available to airports. With this certificate, the Bangalore International Airport becomes the fourth such environment-friendly green airport in the Asia Pacific. The airport has managed to reduce its carbon emissions by 57% since 2008.

India's civil aviation market slows down after a period of hyper growth

Civil aviation, one of the happening sectors in India that skipped demonetisation blues, is showing signs of slowing down. The domestic air traffic growth came in at 14.91 percent for March, down from 15.77 percent in February and 25.13 percent in January. The weak data did not stop SpiceJet shares from hitting a new 52-week high of Rs 107.40 on BSE on Friday.
In the last three months of calendar year 2016, the growth rate was high at 23.9 percent (December), 22.45 percent (November) and 23.2 percent (October).
Twelve Indian carriers flew 90.45 lakh (9.04 million) passengers last month, a growth of 14.9 percent from 78.72 lakh (7.87 million) in March 2016, according to DGCA data released Thursday.

‘Hope Kalaburagi airport opens by 2018’

Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge has said that he is hopeful of the Kalaburagi airport being operational by next March.

During his visit to the proposed Greenfield Airport site, near Srinivas Saradagi village on the outskirts of the city on Friday, he said that works under Phase-II and Phase-III will be taken up simultaneously.

Two airports in TN receive 6% of foreign tourists using e-tourist visas

Chennai and Trichy airports in Tamil Nadu collectively received 6% of international tourists, who flew to India on e-tourist visas in March.
The Union ministry of tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) & FTAs on e- tourist visa on the basis of nationality-wise, port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI).
According to an official statement, New Delhi international airport recorded the highest number of e-tourist visa arrivals with 46.5%. It is followed by Mumbai airport and Dabolim airport in Goa with 17.1% and 13.8% respectively.
To Read the News in Full 21/04/17 Yogesh Kabirdoss/The Times Of India