Air India Celebrates Star Alliance's 20th Anniversary

Air India and Star Alliance celebrated the latter's 20th anniversary at the national carrier's headquarters in Delhi yesterday. Air India is the only member from the subcontinent of the global alliance, which has 28 member airlines.

Air India CMD Pradeep Singh Kharola extended a warm welcome to Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh. "Air India is proud to be a member of the prestigious group of leading airlines," Kharola said, expressing confidence that AI and Star Alliance would "continue to grow from strength to strength" and "serve passengers all over the world with seamless connectivity and convenient services".

Goh thanked Air India for its support and acknowledged its active role as a member airline with its network and presence in this part of the world. He also gave a broad outline of Star Alliance's global presence through its member airlines and its constant endeavour to improve and enhance customers' experience, creating a digital online experience for him.
To Read the News in Full 09/02/18 Mid Day

Indian airports to install high-speed baggage scanner to avoid long queues

Nine Indian airports will be getting rid of the current baggage screening machines for the sake of passenger convenience. Reportedly, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has signed multi-million dollar deal with a global firm to provide baggage scanners, which will be installed at nine airports in India, including Kolkata and Chennai.
The new baggage screening machines will ensure passengers go through a smooth airport check-in and also reduce the pressure faced by the security personnel during rush hours and during mandatory airport screening.

Singapore Airlines looking at operating more flights from India

Kolkata: Singapore Airlines is upbeat on Indian operations as it mulls the possibility of more flights from the country.
According to David Lim, General Manager India, the airline already has 98 flights a week from 11 destinations in the country. And, plans are now afoot to have more in the coming days.

The 11 destinations from where Singapore Airlines and Silk Air – its sister concern – currently have services are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Kochi, Vizag, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad.

“We have not announced anything yet. But we do feel confident to add a few in the coming days. However, I can’t tell you from where,” he told BusinessLine during an interview.
Peak period , Lim said, has already seen Singapore Airlines increase flight frequencies. For instance, in the December-January period, the company had nine flights a week from Kolkata, instead of seven a week (once a day). For the ensuing April-May period, it plans to have five flights a week, instead of four.

Jet Airways to start second Bengaluru-Singapore flight

Bengaluru:  Leading Indian private carrier Jet Airways on Friday said it would operate a second flight daily on Bengaluru-Singapure route from March 15 to meet the growing demand for the service.

"Jet Airways will commence a second daily flight 9W 26 from March 15 with the growing passenger traffic on the route and to strengthen our presence in Bengaluru," the airline said in a statement, adding it was focusing on Bengaluru as its third hub after Mumbai and New Delhi.

Vizag airport gets second foreign exchange counter

Visakhapatnam: A foreign exchange service at the Visakhapatnam airport was inaugurated on Wednesday.
The forex counter by Centrum was inaugurated by G Prakash Reddy, Visakhapatnam airport director.
The forex counter will offer passengers flying in and out of the city foreign exchange at competitive rates, along with a host of other products such as travellers' cheques, multi-currency prepaid cards and travel insurance. "This is the second forex counter in Vizag airport. We already have one at the entrance," said Reddy.
Foreign exchange company Centrum Direct Ltd, which is part of the Centrum Group, has been awarded the rights for providing foreign exchange services at the Vishakapatnam airport.
To Read the News in Full 08/02/18 Times of India

Amritsar int’l airport tops in domestic passenger growth

Amritsar: Sri Guru Ram Das Jee (SGRDJ) International Airport has beaten the other international airports in the country in December 2017 with highest domestic passenger growth of 83.5 per cent and aircraft movement increase of 103.5 per cent in comparison with the same month in 2016.
The footfall of domestic passengers in December 2017 reached 1,62,932 in comparison with 88,790 during the corresponding month in 2016.
Sameep Singh Gumtala, aviation analyst and overseas secretary, Amritsar Vikas Manch (NGO), stated that the analysis of the recently released data by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for all the airports in India also revealed that the total monthly footfall of passengers (domestic and international) at the airport reached an all-time high of 2,19,216, surpassing November’s 2,13,615 passengers.

Govt says no 'air rickshaw' proposal under consideration

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry today said there is no proposal to explore the possibility of having 'air rickshaws' based on drone technology.
To a query on whether the government is exploring the possibility of 'air rickshaws' based on drone technology for easy transportation service in the country, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha replied in the negative.
"No such proposal is under consideration by this ministry," he told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

India-UAE Flights to See Biggest Passenger Gain by 2036: Report

Aviation industry across the world is set to see a boom in 2036, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) projecting the number of passengers to reach 7.8 billion that year, twice of the estimated 4 billion fliers last year. The Asia Pacific region will be the biggest driver of the demand, accounting for more than half of the new passengers in the next two decades, according to IATA’s 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast.

As per the IATA projection, based on a 3.6 per cent average Compound Annual Growth Rate, destination pairs such as India-UAE will see an annual gain of 20.2 million passengers, followed by China-Thailand that will see annual gain of 19.1 million fliers. The third and fourth spots are taken by China-South Korea (17.7 million) and China-Singapore (15 million) routes.

Asian countries take most of the populated routes, with the United States, Canada and Mexico making a fleeting appearance in the Top 10 at the 4th spot with an annual passenger gain of 14.9 million passengers.

AirAsia starts Kuala Lumpur-Jaipur direct flight

Jaipur: Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia today said it will operate direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to the city four times a week.

The airline is also offering a promotional scheme of all-in-fares of Rs 3,555 (one-way), beginning February 5 until February 11 for travel period between February 5 and July 31.

The premium flatbed is also available for booking at a promotional rate of Rs 11,900, CEO AirAsia X Group Datuk Kamarudin Meranun said.

MP demands restoration of Haj embarkation point at Calicut

Kozhikode: M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, has urged the Centre to restore the embarkation point for Haj pilgrims in the State to Calicut International Airport once the Runway End Safety Area (RESA) works are over.

The Haj embarkation point in the State had been shifted to Kochi airport after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) banned the operation of wide-bodied aircraft citing the unsafe characteristics of the tabletop runway.

Raising the issue in Parliament, Mr. Raghavan said that Calicut airport had been the embarkation point for Haj pilgrims from Kerala and Lakshadweep till 2014.

Air India to connect Mumbai with San Francisco; to up frequencies to Australia

Mumbai: Buoyant over the success of its direct flight to San Francisco from New Delhi, flag carrier Air India may soon connect the American West Coast with the city with a direct flight from this summer.

The disinvestment-bound Air India currently operates to San Francisco six-times per week, which will go up to nine flights in a week with three services being planned from Mumbai as part of the airline's summer schedule, a senior official said.

Hi-tech baggage scanners to be installed at 9 airports

In a bid to enhance passenger convenience at airports, the AAI has placed an order worth over USD 50 million with global leader Smiths Detection for hold-baggage scanners, which will be installed in nine airports across the country.
The in-line baggage screening system means air travellers will no longer have to queue-up near the X-ray machines to scan their baggage before check-in and will also result in smooth passenger flow at these airports.

Smiths Detection to install baggage scanners at 9 airports

New Delhi: In a bid to enhance passenger convenience at airports, the AAI has placed an order worth over USD 50 million with global leader Smiths Detection for hold-baggage scanners, which will be installed in nine airports across the country.

The scanners will be installed at nine airports, including Chennai and Kolkata, according to a statement from Smiths Detection.

India remains fastest growing domestic market in 2017: IATA

India remained the world’s fastest growing domestic aviation market for the third straight year in 2017 as economic and network expansion bolstered the sector, according to global airlines’ body IATA. Globally, Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) - a measure of passenger volumes - rose by 7.6 per cent in 2017, registering “above-trend growth” that was ahead of the ten- year average rate of 5.5 per cent.

“The domestic India market posted the fastest full-year growth rate for the third year in a row (17.5 per cent), followed by China (13.3 per cent),” the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in a report released last week.

IndiGo, Vistara apply for global rights to spread wings

New Delhi:  The two potential bidders for Air India — IndiGo and Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) JV Vistara — have applied for international rights to spread their wings. IndiGo, which has been flying its single-aisle A-320s to neighbouring countries, has now sought clearance to operate wide-body aircraft to a large number of European sectors like London (Gatwick), Manchester, Birmingham, Brussels, Milan, Rome, Zurich, Madrid and points in France and Germany.
Vistara wants to start international operations using its A-320s to a number of places in Gulf and southeast Asia like Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai.