For now, no GST on goods sold at Indian airports' duty-free shops

Kolkata: Prices of perfumes, chocolates and tobacco sold at duty-free shops in Kolkata and 16 other international airports in the country will not skyrocket. At least not immediately.
Allaying fears of international fliers, tax experts told TOI the pronouncement by the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) that goods sold at the duty free shop at Delhi airport should be subject to GST will be challenged as the very existence of duty-free shops is at stake.
“Flyers purchase liquor, confectionery, perfumes and tobacco at duty-free shops as they get international brands at prices that are 30-40% lower than the market. If the AAR decision is implemented, the price of these goods other than liquor could go up by 9-14%. This will take away the sheen from duty-free shops,” said a representative of Flemingo, the largest operator of duty-free shops in India.

Why airports are unable to handle increasing air traffic

Last month, the tyres on an Indigo flight from Tirupati to Hyderabad burst on touchdown — leading to thousands of passengers being stranded in airports across the country for up to seven hours. Every day, though, delays of half an hour or more, which have a cascading effect on schedules country-wide, are par for the course — a result of soaring passenger traffic, and stagnation in planning and expansion of airports to handle the footfalls.
Airports in India — from the busiest like Delhi and Mumbai to smaller ones in Patna and Guwahati — have become synonymous with queues, delays and congestion. On the airside, failure to add runways and parking bays has meant airports are unable to clear airlines’ requests to add more flights.
“If a flight gets delayed at another city like Delhi or Mumbai, there are delays in all the other sectors. This is beyond our control,” said an airline official. In December, for instance, 45% of flights were delayed at Mumbai.
India has recorded double-digit growth in domestic air passenger traffic for the past 42 months, shows data from International Air Transport Association (IATA), a trade body of global airlines.

Vadodara airport to get 2 new aerobridges

Vadodara:  Two aerobridges will be operational soon at Vadodara airport, Airport Authority of India (AAI) chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra, said today.

The AAI had started building these aerobridges last year, to ferry passengers directly from the gate to the aircraft, Mohapatra told PTI over the phone.

“The commissioning of the aerobridges will enable the flights to park close to terminal building making it easier for passengers to board the flight without using the bus. This makes travelling easier for senior citizens, children, pregnant women and wheelchair-bound passengers,” he added.

Zoom Air looking to spread its wings to B'desh, Myanmar

Kolkata: Zoom Air is looking to fly to nearby international destinations like Yangon and Chittagong, from Kolkata, a top official of the airline has said.

Last week, Zoom Air launched daily flights between Kolkata and Tezpur in Assam, under the Centre"s regional connectivity scheme (RCS).


"We are planning to operate flights to international destinations such as Yangon and Chittagong from Kolkata. These destinations are likely to be connected with one or two destinations in the North East," CEO cum MD of Zoom Air, Koustav M Dhar told PTI.

"We will be able to introduce international flights from Kolkata, because from now on, we will park two aircraft in the city at night," Dhar said.

SpiceJet likely to operate flights from Darbhanga

Patna:  Darbhanga has emerged as the strong contender in the state for commercial flight operations under the Centre’s much-ambitious regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
If Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources are to be believed, SpiceJet has won the bid to operate flights from Darbhanga airstrip. The private airline has planned flights to Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai from Darbhanga. AAI sources said the bidding was held three months back in the national capital in which Kishanganj airstrip was also in the race. However, no airline showed interest to operate flights from Kishanganj. Sources said after Darbhanga, Purnia might be the second airstrip in the state from where commercial flights would operate in the near future.

Vistara, Adobe partner to deliver enhanced customer experience

At Adobe Symposium 2018, Vistara announced a strategic alliance with Adobe to leverage next generation technology in Adobe Experience Cloud to bolster the company’s end customer experiences. As part of this partnership, Vistara aims to augment its digital transformation journey by leveraging the power of Adobe Analytics and Adobe Campaign to drive a range of technological advancements that will strengthen the company’s data foundation and enable personalised experiences for Club Vistara members.
Adobe Symposium 2018 is India’s biggest digital marketing event and is taking place in Mumbai today. Speaking at the event on the role of technology in helping marketers become ‘experience makers’, Ravinder Singh, chief information and innovation officer, Vistara said, “World over, the aviation industry has always been amongst the most customer-experience oriented, and the onset of today’s digital revolution has brought technology to the front and centre of customer experience strategies.

Goa will be made logistics hub of India, says Suresh Prabhu

Panaji: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said here today that the government plans to turn Goa into a logistics hub of the country. “We are going to make Goa the logistics hub of the country. There are four coastal states on the Western coast-Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. After Mumbai, the biggest airport that is going to come up is in Goa (in Mopa),” he said. The minister was addressing a gathering at the ‘Goa Start Up and Innovation Day’ organised by the state Information and Technology Department.

He said the existence of two airports in Goa, including the second facility at Mopa, which will be commissioned in 2020, would help position Goa as a logistics hub. According to him, once the Mopa airport is commissioned, it will have the capacity to handle 30 million tourists annually.

Jewar airport to handle 10 crore flyers annually by 2050: Report

New Delhi: The Greater Noida airport at Jewar will start with an annual passenger handling capacity of 60 lakh when it opens by March 2023 and then eventually grow in phases to reach 10 crore flyers every year by 2050.
A detailed PWC report on this infra project’s feasibility and sustainability shows that 85% of flyers to and from here will be domestic and the rest international.
The study says Jewar’s development will see annual passenger traffic grow to 1 crore by 2029-30 and then to 10 crore by 2050 in phases.

New terminals planned at Chennai airport

Chennai: In two months, passengers flying through the Chennai airport are likely to witness the construction of new terminals as part of the phase II modernisation project.

The domestic terminal will be split and located on either of the international terminal. So, the existing domestic and international terminals will be modified and refurbished to serve as the new domestic terminal. The old Kamaraj Domestic Terminal and the Anna International Terminal will become the new international terminal.
“This apart, there will also be an exclusive satellite terminal, which will be connected to the domestic and international terminal by a tunnel. This is mainly to ease the growing passenger traffic in the airport,” an official said.

Zoom Air Begins Kolkata-Tezpur Daily Flights

Kolkata: Zoom Air today began flight operations between Kolkata and Assam's Tezpur under the Centre's UDAN scheme, a top official of the airline said.

The airline operated a 50-seater Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ200LR) between Kolkata and Tezpur, the official said.

"We are a full service carrier and the aircraft we are operating in this sector is luxury jet," CEO and Managing Director of Zoom Air, Koustav M Dhar, said.

Zoom Air will operate seven daily flights on the Kolkata-Tezpur-Kolkata route, he said.

Vistara joins global airline lobby IATA ahead of launching international operations

Mumbai: Tata-SIA's joint venture airline, Vistara, has joined the 280-member strong global airlines body IATA, ahead of plans to launch international operations by the second-half of the year.

Up until now, only two Indian carriers - Air India and Jet Airways - were part of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), whose members represent as much as 83 percent of the total air traffic across 120 countries.

Membership will enable Vistara to collaborate with other international member airlines for so-called codeshare and interline agreements, and provide customers with seamless travel through an extended global network, the airline said in a release.

Good news for Jet Airways flyers: Now, bid for an upgrade to first class

New Delhi: Full-service carrier Jet Airways on Wednesday announced the launch of 'Jet upgrade' initiative, allowing premiere to upgrade to a higher class through a bidding process.

Under the programme, passengers holding confirmed economy or premiere bookings can bid for an upgrade to premiere or first class respectively, the airline said in a statement.
Passengers can place a bid on the Jet Airways' website under the 'manage my booking' section, stating the amount they're willing to bid for the upgrade.

Zoom Air begins Kolkata-Tezpur daily flights

Kolkata: Zoom Air today began flight operations between Kolkata and Assam's Tezpur under the Centre's UDAN scheme, a top official of the airline said.

The airline operated a 50-seater Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ200LR) between Kolkata and Tezpur, the official said.


"We are a full service carrier and the aircraft we are operating in this sector is luxury jet," CEO and Managing Director of Zoom Air, Koustav M Dhar, said.

Zoom Air will operate seven daily flights on the Kolkata-Tezpur-Kolkata route, he said.

Allahabad airport will be ready by December 2018: UP Civil Aviation Minister

New Delhi: Nand Gopal Gupta, the Uttar Pradesh Civil Aviation Minister, in an exclusive talk with Zee Business's Sameer Dixit said, "The state is fully prepared to host the Kumbh Mela to be held in Allahabad and Allahabad airport will be ready by December 2018." Notably, Allahabad Kumbh Mela will be held from January 15 to March 4, 2019.

Gupta said that after being developed, Allahabad Airport will be connected with 13 other cities of the countries, like Hyderabad, Nagpur, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Dehradun, Indore, Kolkata, Raipur, Pune and Patna in next 15 months. In addition, 11 major cities of the state, like Kushinagar, Agra, Jewar, Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Allahabad among others will be connected through the airstrip. He also said that other 22 cities like Chitrakoot, Azamgarh, Bareli, Aligarh, Jhansi and Moradabad among others will be connected with Air Routes.

Ludhiana to have air link with Shimla, Kullu soon

Ludhiana: Kullu and Shimla will no longer be over the hills and far away. If all goes well, Ludhianvis can soon fly to these tourist spots from Sahnewal airport. The airport is already running a flight between Ludhiana and Delhi, which is witnessing a good response.
Airport's acting director Amardeep Nehra said Air Deccan has submitted a proposal to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) about the flight from Ludhiana to Delhi, Shimla and Kullu.