Saras taking wing

Encouraging reports after the second test flight of the indigenous light aircraft Saras would point to the wisdom of reviving the project that had come close to being abandoned after a prototype had crashed eight years ago.

Hopefully the shortcomings have been rectified and the design upgraded ~ there is little point in trying to project unrealistic success stories ~ so that the National Aerospace Laboratory’s effort will bear fruit in the shape of commercial production.

There would be little point in thinking merely in terms of production for the armed forces, paramilitary and other sections of the “captive market”. With regional connectivity the current “buzz”, the projection of the Saras as costing 20-25 per cent less than an imported equivalent does raise exciting prospects.

‘Aviation market flying high’

India’s success march in developing airports had made the country the third largest aviation market, Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Monday.

Speaking at the plenary on ‘Connectivity and Communication: Fast-tracking infrastructure development and financing,’e said the Indian aviation market was growing at a fast pace.

Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran, Telecom Special Secretary N. Sivasailam, South Asia Gateways Terminals CEO Romesh David, Member, House of Lords, UK Baroness Sandip Verma, A.P.

Air India Express to increase flights to Doha

Air India Express is increasing the frequency of its Doha flights to and from Cochin.
The Indian low-cost airline will add 3 more flights every week from Cochin to Doha and this timetable will be in effect from March 25 till October 28.

The new timetable was tweeted by Indian embassy in Qatar.

The new addition will increase the frequency on Doha-Cochin sector from 4 weekly flights to daily service.

Flight IX 0475 from Cochin will leave at 23:30 and will reach Doha at 1:15. Meanwhile, flight from Doha IX 0476 will leave at 2:15 and will reach Cochin at 9:10. 
To Read the News in Full 25/02/18 Peninsula Qatar

Direct flights from Asean countries

Half of the 10 countries in Asean have direct flights to India. The three aviation hubs of Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur hold the lion's share of these direct flights, although they are not India's closest neighbours. Singapore has more than 240 flight services a week to India, while Thailand has 270 and Malaysia, 230.
Indonesia and Myanmar also have direct flights to India, but on a very limited scale.
Indonesia's Garuda launched a thrice-weekly direct flight from Jakarta to Mumbai in 2016, while Myanmar has three direct flights a week from Yangon to Kolkata.

Air services to Diu, Daman to cut travel time, boost tourism

Surat: Kanhaiya Paanwala, a real estate developer in Adajan, always wanted to fly to Diu with his family members. He still remembers the treacherous 16-hour long road journey from Surat to Diu. Paanwala’s dream came true with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off Daman’s first commercial chopper service to Diu on Saturday. The PM also launched Diu-Ahmedabad flight service which will reduce the eight-hour road journey to just over an hour.
“It’s amazing. Now we can fly directly to Diu. But it will still take three hours for us to travel by road to Daman and get the chopper to Diu. I have gathered information from my friends in Daman about the chopper service and he has promised me to help book four tickets for the next weekend after Holi festival,” said Paanwala.

Safety, Security of Passengers is Our Priority, Says GoAir

New Delhi: Budget airline GoAir on Saturday said that the safety and security of the passengers have always been their priority, and they have never compromised with it at any circumstances. The statement came hours after the Delhi- Leh-Jammu flight landed back to Leh  after a technical glitch was detected as soon as it took off.

“G8 205 (Leh – Jammu) 112 pax had a technical glitch right after becoming airborne. The flight crew chose to return back to Leh. The aircraft is on ground and being inspected. All passengers have been cared for and served  refreshments. We are ensuring the next available flight options as well as hotel accommodation for passengers,” read the statement of the airlines.

New Air India service to boost local businesses

Businesses from across the Midlands are set to reap the benefits of a new service connecting Birmingham Airport to the Indian city of Amritsar.

The new Air India service was welcomed by Indian drummers and dancers who weaved their way through passengers who were joined by Members of Parliament, business leaders and members of the Sikh UK community.

Amritsar is the second direct Birmingham to India service, complementing the Delhi service which started in August 2013. The service has carried more than 600,000 passengers in the four years it has operated using the popular Boeing 787-8 ‘Dreamliner’ aircraft.

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.