UDAN Scheme: PM Launches Flight Between Ahmedabad And Diu, Travel Time To Reduce By 11 Hours

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched development schemes worth Rs 1,000 crore for Daman and Diu, and also inaugurated a flight connecting Ahmedabad to coastal town of Diu.

The prime minister, who inaugurated Air Odisha's flight connecting Ahmedabad with Diu under the Centre's regional connectivity scheme UDAN, said air connectivity will boost tourism in the region.

He also launched a helicopter service connecting Daman and Diu at an event here.
"The air connectivity will boost tourism as tourists who want to visit the Somnath temple, Gir forest (in Gujarat) can now go (there) from Diu," Modi said.

Govt pledges 40m-flyer/year 2nd Chennai airport soon

Chennai: The state government on Friday said the city would soon get a second airport with an annual passenger-handling capacity of 40 million.
"The government will establish an international airport with a capacity to handle four crore passengers per year in the suburbs of Chennai," deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam told an audience at property expo FAIRPRO 2018.
The statement was a reiteration of the state's commitment to a new facility that will cater to twice as many flyers as the current airport at Meenambakkam, which has no scope to expand capacity.

Non-stop flight brings Amsterdam closer to Namma Bengaluru every day

Amsterdam (The Netherlands): With the number of visas issued by The Netherlands to Indians increasing by 25% each year, Jet Airways has brought the picturesque country closer to Bengalureans by launching its first non-stop daily flight between the city and Amsterdam.This marks the third daily service of the airline between India and Amsterdam, the other two services already functioning from Mumbai and New Delhi. Jet Airways is the only airline from Bengaluru that offers a direct flight to Amsterdam.

While the service was formally launched on October 29, 2017 from Bengaluru, a media team was taken by Jet Airways recently to the country to showcase the relaxed travel experience and ambience of its Airbus A330 aircraft.

Jet Privilege bags nine awards at 11th customer loyalty and customer engagement awards

Mumbai: JetPrivilege, Jet Airways’ award winning frequent flyer and Loyalty rewards management programme, won nine key accolades at the 11th Customer Loyalty & Customer Experience Awards held at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai last week.

The wins highlight JetPrivilege’s continued success in providing all its members including the airline’s frequent flyer guests with the most unique and rewarding lifestyle experiences as well as engagement opportunities.

The frequent flyer programme of the country’s premier international airline was bestowed as the winner in the following categories:

AirAsia reintroduces Chennai-Bengaluru flights

Chennai: Budget carrier AirAsia has resumed its service in the Chennai-Bengaluru sector more than two years after it suspended operations in this route. The Tata-AirAsia joint venture airline would fly five times a day in and out of Chennai to Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar. The first flight left for Bengaluru at 7.25 a.m today. AirAsia India, CEO and Managing Director, Amar Abrol announced the launch of five daily flights on Twitter. "We are back! Launching 5 daily flights connecting Chennai to Bangalore and Bhubaneswar #noweveryonecanfly #Chennai @AirAsia," he tweeted. The Bengaluru-headquartered air carrier also announced the induction of Airbus A320 into the fleet taking the total to 15. From today, the airline will operate three daily flights to Bengaluru and two to Bhubaneswar from Chennai making it as the 17th destination.

Abu Dhabi aviation offers help to start Air Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The Abu Dhabi Aviation (ADA) has proposed a tie-up with the state government for commencing Air Kerala airlines, emergency helicopter medical services, international aviation academy, tie-ups with Kannur International Airport and setting up of aircraft engineering maintenance base. A high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary Paul Antony has been constituted by the government to examine the scope of the proposal.

Abu Dhabi Aviation is one of the largest commercial helicopter operator in the Middle East. It operates a fleet of about 60 aircrafts and over 50 helicopters. Government sources said that the fresh move would be a major fillip to the state’s aviation sector, especially the long pending plans to have an own airline as well as air ambulance.

Direct flight from Delhi to Imphal by April

Imphal: The civil aviation ministry has assured the Manipur government that Air India will begin daily direct flights from New Delhi to Imphal by the first week of April.

Chief minister N. Biren Singh announced this at the inaugural function of the 3rd International Convention of Service Industry NER(I)-ASEAN FOCUS CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) held here on Thursday.

The convention was organised by the ministry of commerce and industry, the International Chamber for Service Industry and the Manipur Infrastructure Development Agency on the theme Tapping potential of services sector catering to domestic and international demands.

Vistara Announces New Flight Routes

Vistara airline today announced new flights starting from Kolkata.  Vistara's flight service from Kolkata, which will begin from March 25, will offer double daily flights between Kolkata and Chennai, as well as a direct same aircraft service to Kochi via Chennai, the airline said. Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has also increased its frequencies between Kolkata and Delhi with the launch of a third daily flight, the airline said in a statement.

With these additions, Vistara will connect Kolkata directly with Delhi, Chennai, Port Blair (Andamans) and Kochi.

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