The bad news just does not stop for the domestic Indian civil aviation industry. Recently released figures show an alarming drop to only 8.6 million domestic passengers for the third quarter of (July-September) 2008, with a miserable 2.68 million passengers for September 2008. This represents a 17% reduction over the same period last year, a 19% reduction from the previous …

The consolidation in the Indian aviation industry has commenced. Jet Airways announced, today, it has entered into a codeshare arrangement with JetLite, its wholly-owned, all economy subsidiary as part of its ongoing efforts to offer passengers synergetic benefits when they choose to fly with the Jet group. As part of the agreement, Jet Airways will place its marketing code (9W) …

The tumultuous last week in the Indian aviation scenario, which rivalled the best soap opera dramas of Bollywood, Tollywood or Sandalwood, shows no signs of abating. The popular joke of the day is “Who says there is a CREDIT crunch in India? See all the politicians taking CREDIT” [for ‘protecting’ the jobs of the Jet Airways staff]. The fight between …

Madhumathi D.S. of the Hindu Business Line reports that the 5 month young Bengaluru International Airport, which was expected to have a dream take-off on the back of phenomenal traffic growth during 2005-08, now seems to be going slow on its expansion plan in the face of a traffic decline. “There has been a dramatic fall in monthly traffic for …