Vistara adds daily flights to Kochi and Chennai from Kolkata

Kolkata: Vistara, the TATA-SIA joint venture, is all set to connect Kochi and Chennai to Kolkata from March end this year, the airline said in a statement on Friday. The flight between Netjai Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata and Kochi will be a daily one with a stopover at Chennai. There will be another daily flight to Chennai, the statement said adding the two services will commence from March 25.

The airline has already added a third frequency between Kolkata and Delhi from mid February and it leaves for Delhi from Kolkata at 8.15 pm daily, it said. The existing two frequencies to Delhi from Kolkata are in the morning and in the afternoon, it added.

“The launch of these new routes and flights from Kolkata reflects the commitment Vistara has to Kolkata and of the positive response we have received to our flights from the city,” the Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer of Vistara, Sanjiv Kapoor, said.

Jewar airport will now be a full-fledged aviation hub

UP government has decided to develop the proposed Jewar international airport in Noida as a full-fledged aviation hub. It will have at least four runways and facilities, including a flying and training institute, and cargo and aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) system.
The announcement was made on the second and concluding day of the Investors’ Summit on Thursday.
Director, UP civil aviation department, Surya Pal Gangwar said the plan to develop the Jewar airport as a state-of-the-art aviation hub was being worked out. “We hope to complete the planning and get other formalities completed soon,” he said in a session on ‘Civil aviation: emerging opportunities’ at the summit.

Air India Delhi-Imphal Daily Direct Flights by April: Manipur CM

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has assured the State Government that Air India would begin daily direct flights from New Delhi to Imphal by first week of April, 2018. This was stated by him at the inaugural function of 3rd International Convention of Service Industry NER(I)-ASEAN FOCUS CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) held at Classic Grande, Imphal on Thursday.

The Chief Minister said that the government is planning to build a Resort to attract more tourists in the State. The government is trying to acquire 100 acres of land near Tengnoupal area in Imphal-Moreh road for the construction of the Resort, he added. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allocated funds for the construction of 39 big culverts in the areas of Indo-Myanmar border. Chief Minister informed that he along with the Chief Minister of Sagaing Region, Myanmar would jointly inaugurate the said culverts soon.

Indian carriers' share in international traffic up by 2.6%

New Delhi: This is one "made by Indians" programme that is showing the desired results.
Last year, 5.9 crore people flew in and out of India - up 11.3% from 5.3 crore in 2016. Indian carriers saw their share in this traffic going up to 38.6%, up a significant 2.6% in just one year from 36% in 2016. The jump came mainly on the back of a solid 58% increase in international passengers flown by IndiGo, followed by soon-to-be-privatised Air India express which saw 20% jump in this traffic.
Since the liberal grant of bilaterals to the Gulf, especially Dubai, by the previous UPA regime had become a controversy, the Modi government has not given more flying rights despite demand from all big players like Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad. As a result, the 11% growth in international traffic to and from India seen in 2017 over 2016 is mainly a result of more passengers being carried by Indian airlines.

Air Asia X to stop flights from Mumbai

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia has decided to pull out its flights from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur from April 30.

A report in The Times of India quotes an  AirAsia India spokesperson saying passengers booked on the sector after April 29 will be allowed to either re-route through other destinations, get a credit refund, change the travel date or get a full refund.
The Mumbai-Kuala Lumpur flight has been popular with tourists to Malaysia and Bali, where Air Asia has excellent connections. If you were planning your South Asia summer holiday, you still have three good options from Mumbai. The following airlines operate non-stop flights:

Free Wi-Fi still out of reach for many international flyers at Indian airports

At a time when airlines are planning to introduce in-flight voice and data connectivity, following a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) order, flyers using international SIM cards still can’t access free Wi-Fi at Indian airports.
Currently, only those with local mobile numbers or those international passengers with roaming packs can connect to Wi-Fi at airports. In contrast, most international airports provide free Wi-Fi to all passengers from any part of the world.
According to TRAI sources, public wireless network users need to be verified for security reasons through OTPs. “That is why the facility is limited to local mobile numbers and those using international roaming at Indian airports,” they say.
But this has been causing grave inconvenience for international passengers, who’re forced to sit through flight delays and long layovers without internet access. While passengers who have international roaming packs may not require free Wi-Fi at airports, the service in itself is expensive.

Singapore Airlines Increases Frequency From Ahmedabad

Singapore Airlines has introduced a fifth weekly flight from Ahmedabad to Singapore; to cater to the increased travel demand during the summer holiday season. The additional flight will operate every Friday from April 27 – May 25, 2018.

David Lim, General Manager India – Singapore Airlines said, “Ahmedabad continues to be a key market for Singapore Airlines and we are pleased to offer an additional, seasonal frequency to meet the growing demand. The new flight will provide travellers an additional departure window to travel to Singapore and to onward destinations.”
To Read the News in Full 19/02/18 T3 News Network

Qatar Airways reiterates it will launch airline in India with 'at least 100 planes'

New Delhi: Qatar Airways on Tuesday reaffirmed its plans to start an airline in India. The airline’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker, told the media in France “we will launch an airline in India which will have a fleet of at least 100 aircraft”. He did not specify what type of planes will be deployed in India. Baker made this statement while taking delivery of Airbus A350-1000 in Toulouse on Tuesday.
The reiteration comes exactly a year after Al Baker had said that he along with Qatar government’s investment arm will start a domestic airline in India.

Surat international airport inches towards reality

Surat: The dream of local people to have an international airport in the Diamond City may come true with the state government allocating Rs 1 crore for setting up of immigration facilities at Surat airport.
Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, while presenting the state budget in Gujarat assembly on Tuesday, stated that the government has earmarked Rs 1 crore for setting up of immigration facilities at Surat airport.
It was on September 20, 2017, that the home department of Gujarat government had asked the director general of police to allot 68 immigration staff for Surat airport in the financial year 2018-19.
The prime minister’s office (PMO), ministry of civil aviation and ministry of home affairs (MHA) had given clear directions to the state government to take over immigration functions at Surat airport.

Indian carriers' share in international traffic up by 2.6%

New Delhi: This is one "made by Indians" programme that is showing the desired results.
Last year, 5.9 crore people flew in and out of India - up 11.3% from 5.3 crore in 2016. Indian carriers saw their share in this traffic going up to 38.6%, up a significant 2.6% in just one year from 36% in 2016. The jump came mainly on the back of a solid 58% increase in international passengers flown by IndiGo, followed by soon-to-be-privatised Air India express which saw 20% jump in this traffic.
Since the liberal grant of bilaterals to the Gulf, especially Dubai, by the previous UPA regime had become a controversy, the Modi government has not given more flying rights despite demand from all big players like Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad. As a result, the 11% growth in international traffic to and from India seen in 2017 over 2016 is mainly a result of more passengers being carried by Indian airlines.
Five Indian airlines fly abroad - Air India, AI Express, Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet. In 2016, these five accounted for 1.9 crore of the 5.3 crore passengers who flew in and out of India, which means a share of 36% in overall traffic. In 2017, they accounted for 2.3 crore of the 5.9 crore international traffic which saw their share go up to 38.6% - a jump of 2.6% in just a year.

New international hall at airport may take 3 years to open

Chennai: The arrival hall of the international terminal may not be commissioned for three years till a new integrated terminal is constructed at Chennai airport. The building, lying unused for the past five years, has only two baggage conveyors and one ramp to the basement baggage area which means that the hall will have to be used simultaneously with the existing old building to handle the passenger flow. But this is not working out as customs, immigration and airlines have refused to split their staff between two arrival buildings.
An official said the terminal could be used only after the integrated facility proposed is completed. “When that building is ready, we are thinking of moving domestic operations here and push international arrival in the integrated terminal. As it will have facilities to handle domestic and international passengers, we will shift flights based on the need for space,” said an official.

Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air pins turnaround on more China, India flights

Bangkok: Nok Airlines Pcl, the struggling low-cost subsidiary of Thai Airway International Pcl, aims to turn around operations by growing international revenue with more flights to China and India, a top executive said on Monday.

The carrier, which posted a loss of 1.85 billion baht ($58.95 million) last year, aims to increase revenue by 3 billion baht this year from 20.4 billion baht in 2017, by carrying 9 million passengers, 4 percent more than a year prior, Chief Executive Piya Yodmani told reporters at an earnings review.

He also said the carrier aims to increase revenue from international operations to 40 percent of its total from 20 percent a year earlier.

Bhopal: IndiGo flights to Delhi, Mumbai & Nagpur from city by March end

Bhopal: In view of the significant rise in the domestic flyers from the city airport, IndiGo and other airline will start flights from Bhopal to Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur by March end.

Anuj Agrawal, Member (HR) of Airports Authority of India (AAI), said the more flights to Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur from here will start soon and once number of flights increase, fare will also come down. Agrawal was in the city to address officials of AAI in two days HR conclave which concluded on Sunday.

Air traffic grows 20 pc in Jan, Raju says lovely start in 18

New Delhi: Domestic air traffic grew 20 per cent in January, with airlines ferrying more than 1.14 crore passengers, according to official data.

Describing the growth as a "lovely start" in 2018, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said India continues to be the worlds fastest growing aviation market.

Airlines carried over 1.14 crore passengers in January this year compared to 95.79 lakh people in the year-ago period. This marks an increase of 19.69 per cent, data released by the DGCA showed.

In January, no-frills carrier IndiGo cornered the highest market share of 39.7 per cent while that of Air India and Jet Airways stood at 13.3 per cent and 14.3 per cent, respectively.

SpiceJet had a market share of 12.6 per cent and that of GoAir was 9.6 per cent.

Decision on big planes soon

Kozhikode: Pressure is said to be mounting on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to resume the operation of wide-bodied aircraft at the Calicut airport after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) gave a favourable report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

“We have submitted an assessment report on the safety parameters and we are awaiting a decision in a week,” Airport Director J.T. Radhakrishna told The Hindu on Friday.
He said the DGCA could give approval after examining the report or inspect the tabletop runway and conduct a separate study to verify the safety assessment. Major airlines such as the Emirates, Saudia, and Air India had expressed willingness to operate the modern versions of the Boeing and the Airbus at the airport.

The operation of wide-bodied aircraft was banned from May 2015 in the wake of the Court of Inquiry report on the Air India Express Boeing 737 crash in Mangaluru in May 2010.