'Raipur, the most customer-friendly airport'

Raipur’s Swami Vivekananda Airport is once again ranked first in Customer Satisfaction, among 49 airports in the country, said an Aviation Ministry release on Friday.

Raipur Airport achieved 4.84 score on a 5-point scale index in the latest CSI survey conducted by an independent agency for the period of January-June 2017, followed by Udaipur, Amritsar and Dehradun airports which have scored 4.75, 4.74 and 4.73, respectively.

No plan to have 24X7 services on Airport Link

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro does not plan to operate overnight trains on its Airport Line, a proposal which was floated last year, DMRC chief Mangu Singh has said.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had conducted a survey last year to assess the feasibility of running trains beyond midnight, which was primarily aimed to serve passengers going abroad.

"We do not plan to operate trains overnight at this point. In any case, even presently we get only few hours at night for maintenance and related works," Singh said, when asked about the status of the plan.

At present, trains operate between 4.45 am and 11.40 pm on the 23-km-long corridor, also known as the Orange Line.

AIE to launch 4 services from Kochi to Doha

Kochi: The Indian diaspora, especially Keralites, hit by travel woes following the diplomatic row in Qatar have reasons to cheer as the Kochi-headquartered Air India Express (AIE) has decided to start four services from Kochi to Doha from August 15.
This is the first time AIE is operating direct flight services to Doha from Kochi.

In the first stage, the airline will launch three direct flight services to Doha from Kochi from August 15 and one more will be launched by September 15.

India will consider an open sky agreement for flights within 5,000 km: Oman Air

India has plans to have an open sky agreement with the nations, which are within the radius of 5,000 km, said Oman Air Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul Gregorowitsch on Thursday.

An open sky agreement refers to an agreement between two nations to allow each other airlines to have an unlimited number of flights, seats, etc between the two countries.
“If the current policy of the Indian Government is to also consider an open sky (agreement) for those destinations which are within 5,000 kilometres materialises, in the next two years, then it will automatically (provide us) a more level environment,” said Gregorowitsch, while briefing a media round table in New Delhi. He was confident that the measure could be put into place by 2020.

Landing system for low visibility passes test at Kolkata Airport soon

Kolkata: With the Category 3 (CAT-3) instrument landing system(ILS) installed at NSCBI Airport passing operational tests yesterday,planes will soon be able to land at the airport here in visibility as low as 50 meters, according to Airport Director (east) Atul Dixit.
Mr Dixit expected that the ILS will become fully operational after the necessary lights were installed on the runway within the next three to four months. Work on the installation of lights are going on, he added.

Kolkata airport now has CAT-2 ILS which allows planes to land when the visibility is within 350 meters only.

Bhopal airport to go all-solar by December

Bhopal:  Raja Bhoj Airport is going solar. All the way. It's going to be only the second airport in India, after Kochi, to become self-sufficient through green energy, airport director Akashdeep Mathur told TOI on Wednesday.
The authorities have decided to install a 1MW capacity solar plant to power all airport functions. Once operational, it will save Bhopal airport Rs 25 lakh a month in electricity charges.
"We are very enthusiastic about the solar power project. Generating solar electricity is a new concept at the airport. After the successful installation of solar panels (a pilot project), we have realized that solar power can do wonders," said Mathur. The project will cost around Rs 4.5 crore and the airport is expected to go all-solar in December 2017, say sources.

“GoAir extends its Fly Smart offerings!

Chennai: GoAir, one of India’s fastest growing airlines, has launched 2 new initiatives keeping in mind the ever changing need of today’s traveller. The launch of Smart Snack, which is specifically crafted for the, “Millennials on the GO” comes with a scrumptious quick bite, juice and a dessert. To bring smiles and joy to their innocent faces at 30,000 feet, GoAir has introduced special takeaway Kid Meal exclusively for kids. The specially crafted kid meal comes with an attractive custom designed airplane shaped bag, snack, juice & chocolates which little flyers can enjoy on their flight.

Flight services to Puducherry from Aug. 15

Puducherry: Commercial passenger flight operations could resume sooner than expected in the Union Territory with SpiceJet committing to operate its maiden Hyderabad-Puducherry-Hyderabad flight on August 15. “We have negotiated with them to launch their daily flights through Puducherry airport from Independence Day and they have agreed,” Chief Secretary Manoj Parida told The Hindu. Originally, SpiceJet was slated to operate a 60-seat ATR aircraft connecting Puducherry and Hyderabad from September 1.

Puducherry’s chequered aviation history is being revived l through the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) — the Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik or UDAN.
To Read the News in Full 13/07/17 M. Dinesh Varma/The Hindu

Domestic air traffic tops 10-mn-mark for first time in May: ICRA

Mumbai: The domestic air passenger traffic in India crossed the 10-million-mark (in a single month) for the first time in the history of Indian aviation during the month of May 2017. This was due to peak season demand, whereby the passenger load factor (PLF) for the domestic aviation industry touched a new high of 88.9 per cent, the highest over the last seven years, a note by rating agency ICRA said.

According to an ICRA note, with the planned expansion by existing airlines and scale-up by new airlines, the capacity addition in the industry is likely to remain healthy in the current year, despite the industry capacity growth (measured in available seat kilometers – ASKMs) being moderate at 14.9 per cent in May 2017.

Air India decision on non-veg food comes under Par panel lens

New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel today raised concerns over Air India's decision to stop serving non- vegetarian food to economy class passengers on domestic flights and would seek an explanation from the airline on the measure. The matter was discussed at the meeting of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture today.

"The issue of Air India deciding not to serve non- vegetarian food for economy class passengers on its domestic flights was raised during the meeting today," panel member and Congress leader K C Venugopal said.

Air Odisha, Air Deccan could begin operations on regional routes by Sept-end

New Delhi:  Air Odisha and Air Deccan should be able to fly on regional routes that they had bid for earlier this year by the end of September, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Wednesday.

The start of flights by these two airlines will give a boost to the Government’s regional air connectivity scheme (RCS) as Air Odisha had won the right to operate on 50 routes, while Air Deccan has been awarded 34 routes. These two airlines bagged the maximum number of routes among the five airlines which were given the mandate to start flying under the RCS scheme of the Government.

"Both the airlines have completed two of the five processes that need to be completed with the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation for the issue of a licence to start a regional airline. They have also approached the authorities for importing six Beachcraft aircraft between them,” the official said.

Kerala airports handle more international passengers than domestic

New Delhi: The growth in India's domestic air travel is among the key benchmarks the sellers of global commercial jets would keenly track.

But, curiously, some airports in the peninsula cater to more international than domestic passengers, illustrating the traffic potential from the Gulf and the ASEAN cities in the South.
Data from the state-run aviation property company Airports Authority of India (AAI) show that Kochi, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, and Tiruchirappalli hosted more outbound passengers than those travelling within the country in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017.

500 check-ins a day at Airport line stations

New Delhi: The number of air passengers checking in for their flights at the city counters of the Delhi Metro's Airport Express Line went up from around 45 air passengers every day to 500 this month. The total number of check-ins at the non-airport counters since Delhi Metro Rail Corporation took over the corridor in July 2013 stands at two lakh now.
Jet Airways and Air India were offering the city check-in facility at the New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium metro stations on the airport line and have been joined since Tuesday by Vistara.
Airport passengers travelling on this line can obtain their boarding pass at the city check-in counters operated by these airlines.

Chandigarh-Bangkok flight 4 times in a week from Nov

Chandigarh: The cash-strapped public sector aviation giant, Air India, is all set to launch a direct flight from Chandigarh to Bangkok in the winter.
According to information provided by the airlines before the Punjab and Haryana high court during the resumed hearing of a petition regarding the delay in launching of international flights from the Chandigarh airport, Air India would launch the flight in November. It would operate for four days in a week.

Former SilkAir head to be Vistara's new CEO

The board of TATA SIA Airlines Ltd, which owns and operates the full-service airline Vistara, has appointed former SilkAir head Leslie Thng as Vistara’s new chief executive officer (CEO), effective from October 2017. Singapore-based regional air carrier SilkAir is a wholly- owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA), which owns a 49 percent stake in TATA SIA Airlines Ltd.

Leslie Thng will succeed Vistara’s incumbent CEO Phee Teik Yeoh, who has been at the helm since the airline commenced commercial operations in January 2015.

“Phee Teik Yeoh will be returning to Singapore Airlines (SIA) to take up a senior appointment,” read a statement from Vistara on Tuesday.