Big changes in aviation sector

As disinvestment of Air India seems set to become a reality, political leaders are voicing concerns. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is worried about the country selling off its “jewels”, while BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy is watching closely to ensure a scam does not take place. Some fears are not misplaced as the government is in the process of selling an entity that has enormous value in terms of physical assets as well as human resources.
The sad reality is that as a government company it has not been able to operate profitably and saddled the exchequer with a huge debt burden. The failure of airlines to operate profitably as so-called national carriers is a global phenomenon and not confined just to this country. British Airways, Lufthansa, Alitalia and many others have been privatised over the years for much the same reasons. Public sector airlines have not been much of a success. In the case of Air India, the problem was compounded by the disastrous decision to merge it with the erstwhile Indian Airlines, creating an unwieldy giant.
The disinvestment process is taking place at a time when there has been a quantum leap in the amount of passengers travelling by air.

Good news for animal lovers! Jet Airways to soon restart pets transfer service

There's good news for pet lovers. They will now be able to use the facility to transfer their pets in flights of Jet Airways. The airline had stopped this service in June 2017 but will resume it citing rising demand, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

The airline will become the third Indian carrier to provide animal transportation as air cargo. Currently, Air India and SpiceJet offer this service.

Although the airline is restarting the facility, it has made certain modifications. Unlike previous acceptance, it has only allowed the movement of pets if it does not involve transshipment. It means passengers who want to relocate their pets will however be able to book them only on direct flights.

The cost of transporting pets from flights varies and it depends on several factors including the size of the animal, the space they occupy in the flight, the cost of crate which is purchased by the owner and the travel distance.

Global Eagle looks abroad for new aviation business

Satellite connectivity provider Global Eagle Entertainment on April 2 detailed three nearly complete international connectivity deals with airlines in Europe and Asia that have the potential to increase its number of connected aircraft by a third.

Global Eagle executives said that two of those customers already have its offline inflight entertainment systems installed, making them prime candidates for upselling satellite Wi-Fi.

Having filed late financial documents for 2016 and averted a Nasdaq delisting threat that made prospective customers second-guess signing contracts, executives told investors to expect new revenue as the company capitalizes on network investments made over the past two years.

Europe, India and Southeast Asia

Speaking to investors April 2, Josh Marks, Global Eagle’s new CEO promoted from the company’s connectivity division, said Global Eagle’s satellite network has “nearly tripled” in size following the mid-2016 acquisition of land and maritime connectivity company EMC, and is poised to support new customers, notably international airlines in Europe and Asia.

Vistara becomes 20 aircraft airline; eligible to fly international

New Delhi: Vistara today received its 20th aircraft today, qualifying it to fly international routes.

“With this milestone addition to its fleet, Vistara completes its initial aircraft order as planned at the early stages of setting up the airline. Vistara will use the new aircraft to increase frequencies on existing routes to scale up operations in the domestic market, while gearing up to start international operations soon,” the airline said in a release.

According to current rules, a domestic airline can fly international only after it has a fleet of 20 aircraft.

Checked-in to Delhi Airport? Here's a look at India’s busiest airports

New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airports are tied as the world’s number one in the over 40 million passengers per annum category in airport service quality. Here are some fun facts about these airports to keep you company:

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

1. New Delhi Airport’s new 101.9-metre high ATC tower is the tallest in India, towering over the Qutub Minar too. It gives a 360-degree view of the airport and will be operational from 2018.

2. The ATC tower is supported by 32 pillars, driven almost 24 meters underground. The foundations, reports say, are strong enough to carry over 1,500 African bush elephants.

3. Delhi Airport flew 63.5 million passengers last year, which is approximately equivalent to the entire population of France. It is the first Indian airport to handle more than 60 million passengers in a year.

Kishangarh Airport still have no flight for Delhi

It has been six months that Kishangarh Airport was inaugurated in October 2017 but the passengers are still waiting for the scheduled flights as only one scheduled flight is being operated from this airport till now.

Currently, only Supreme Airlines flight is being run between Kishangarh and Udaipur and there is no other flight. Passenger load for Delhi is expected from this region, flight for which is yet not in place even after more than 3 months.

In the 2nd round of bidding under the regional connectivity scheme UDAN, (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) Spice Jet has been awarded Delhi-Kishangarh-Delhi route with a frequency of 7 flights per week, the flight has not yet started and Airline is said to be in talks with the airport authority regarding the same.

Night flights at Srinagar Airport will boost tourism: CM

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday chaired a meeting of aviation sector here in which arrangements including providing additional accommodation to central para-military forces were finalized to ensure night-landing of flights at Srinagar Airport.
The meeting was attended by officials of Airport Authority of India, divisional commissioner and others.

An official who attended the meeting informed Greater Kashmir: “Major issue was objection of CRPF who were stating that they cannot provide double shift security to the Airport as they are facing shortage of accommodation.”

Self-security checks to improve your airport stay

Airlines can significantly bolster the speed and efficiency of their service to passengers by introducing self-security checks and dividing queues.

And by tweaking the basic infrastructure, the airport can improve passenger services in the long hours they spend in the lounges and gates when they indulge in shopping or dining.

These are among the suggestions the Kempegowda International Airport implemented after three researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) created models to improve passenger services.

Now, the researchers - Ashish Verma, Divyakant Tahlyanb and Shubham Bhusaric from the Department of Civil Engineering, Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation, and Urban Planning (Cistup) - are implementing the models in the upcoming second terminal.

Amid migrant boom, budget airlines plan direct Bengal link

Kochi: As more and more migrant workers, especially from the north-east, move to Kerala seeking jobs and fortune, many smell a business opportunity. Budget airline operators are one such lot. During the summer break, they are planning to start direct flights from Kochi to Kolkata. For the migrants, who had to spend the best part of three days on a train or connecting flights to visit home, the direct flights are sure to be an attractive proposition.

Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) managing director V J Kurian confirmed that budget airlines such as GoAir and Indi- Go have approached it for starting direct flights to Kolkata and back during the summer schedule. Currently, IndiGo and SpiceJet offer connecting flights to Kolkata from Kochi, with passengers having to switch planes at Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad or Mumbai.

24X7 flight operations begin from Patna airport, finally

Patna: Round-the-clock flight operations began from the (JPNI) in Patna for the first time on Sunday.
“The airport, which started with just two small passenger aircraft in the 70s, has witnessed footfall of nearly 30 lakh passengers this year. Round-the-clock flight operations began with a motive to decongest the terminal building and enhance passengers’ comfort,” JPNI director Rajendra Singh Lahauria said.

Late night flights to be operated by different airlines have received good response from flyers. Of the 150 seats, 100 had been booked during arrival and 90 during departure of the maiden night flight of on the Pune-Patna-Pune route on Sunday.

Air Deccan to spread wings

Agartala: Tripura's capital Agartala will be connected with Shillong via airlines after April 15, a statement of a private air carrier said.

A statement of Air Deccan, shortlisted under Udaan, the Centre's scheme to promote regional connectivity, said the company will start services on the Calcutta-Agartala-Shillong route after April 15.

The company had earlier said it will start small aircraft on the route from February 28.

Airfares to Dubai likely to soar next summer

New Delhi: Indians planning a Dubai trip next summer may have to brace for a surge in fares as authorities in the emirate have asked Indian carriers to slash capacities by half due to a 45-day runway closure that will start April 16, 2019.

Flights by Indian carriers to Dubai account for about 65,000 seats per week. Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths has told them to cut this to half in a February 27 letter. Dubai airlines Emirates and flydubai have also been asked to make reductions.
“Dubai Airports will require Emirates and flydubai to reduce their total operations by approximately 33%,” according to the letter from Griffiths, seen by ET. “Passenger airlines (including Indian carriers) with multiple daily frequencies will be required to reduce their schedule by up to 50%.”

SpiceJet to connect Leh with Delhi from May 1

Mumbai: SpiceJet Ltd is set to commence operations from Leh starting May 1, 2018 with the introduction of daily direct flight services on the Delhi – Leh – Delhi route. The flight will be operated from Terminal I D at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Leh is the 46th domestic destination to be added to SpiceJet’s pan India network.

To celebrate the launch, SpiceJet has announced a limited period special introductory all-inclusive one-way fare of INR 3,999/- and return fare of INR 7,799/- applicable for bookings made on a first come first serve basis.

Deploying its Boeing 737-700 aircraft on the route, SG 121 will take off from Delhi at 6.05 am and reach Leh at 7.25 am. The return flight, SG 122, will take off at 7.55 am and reach Delhi at 9.10 am.
To Read the News in Full 02/04/18 TravelBizMonitor

Domestic passenger traffic to grow by 18% in FY18: ICRA

The Indian aviation industry would continue healthy performance, driven by buoyant domestic passenger traffic growth, which is estimated to grow by ~18% during FY2018. This notwithstanding the moderation in capacity growth due to various factors like technical glitches, delays in delivery of aircraft and focus on international operations. The domestic passenger traffic growth remained healthy backed by improvement in core growth drivers like economic environment and increasing tourism demand. The strong demand has pushed the passenger load factor (PLF) to an all-time high of 86.5% in the current fiscal and India remains one of the best performing key domestic aviation markets in the world in terms of PLF. The estimated passenger traffic growth remains broadly in line with ICRA's previous estimates of 15-17%.

On international routes too, the Indian airlines continued to outperform the industry during the current year.

Domestic Passenger Traffic: Airlines register 24 pct growth in February

New Delhi: Airlines registered an over 24% year-on-year growth in domestic passenger traffic in February, data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation showed. Domestic carriers on the whole carried 10.74 million passengers during February compared to 8.65 million a year ago.

On a month-on-month basis, though the number of passengers was down 0.72 million compared to January, which is not surprising since February is considered a lean period for air travel.

During February, all key scheduled carriers recorded a passenger load factor of over 90%, except Air India. SpiceJet registered a PLF of 96.3% followed by market leader IndiGo (91.8%), Jet Airways (90.4%) and GoAir (90.4%). National carrier Air India flew with 86.7% occupancy on its flights. “The passenger load factor in the February has shown an increasing trend compared to previous month due to the ongoing tourist season,” the DGCA release said.