Most passengers and visitors to Bengaluru International Airport pass by the model of Kingfisher Airline’s Airbus A340-500 at the entrance without a second thought. When the airport opened in May 2008, Indian civil aviation knew no bounds, and everyone was waiting with baited breath for Kingfisher to announce it’s Bangalore to San Francisco non stop flight using the A340-500s. Then …

A herculean effort mounted by Secretary Civil Aviation Nambiar and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Nasim Zaidi helped India pass the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program audit of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). During its 2006 audits, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had found several violations of 300 guidelines. Shortage of skilled manpower was the …

Yesterday, Boeing and Qantas celebrated the arrival of the 75th Boeing 737 in the Australian carrier’s fleet. Qantas which has been flying Boeing 737s since 1986 specified special 2.5 meter high blended winglets, which further reduce fuel burn, thereby increasing range and payload. Since this aircraft will be deployed on the trans-Tasman Australia New Zealand route, Qantas aptly named the …

Even during the current economic slowdown and it’s resultant impact on premium air travel, Lufthansa is continuing it’s ongoing investment in lounges. It recently opened the Lufthansa Senator Lounge at Munich. With the Munich lounge, Lufthansa now offers a complete end to end premium experience for passengers on its recently launched all business class Mumbai Munich service. The new lounge …

An Indian Air Force (IAF) AN-32 transport aircraft landed at Nyoma Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) in Ladakh at the northern tip of India at 06:25 (00:55Z) today. View Nyoma Advanced Landing Ground, Ladakh in a larger map Group Captain SC Chafekar touched down on the Nyoma airstrip located at an altitude of 13,300 feet with Air Marshal NAK Browne, Air …

In this edition of Smoking Touchdowns first a sight we will not see in Bangalore for the foreseeable future. Kingfisher Airlines has discontinued it’s Bangalore London Heathrow flight and the last touchdown of it’s Airbus A330-200s performing this flight was on September 15th. This smokin touchdown was captured on September 13th. VT-VJL performing flight IT002. Air India Cargo has absorbed …

New Delhi based value carrier, SpiceJet announced the launch of the SpiceJet Privilege Pass Programme in partnership with Trident Hotels, Ista Hotels, Keys Hotels, Pride Hotels, Maidens Hotels, Rain Tree Hotels, JHM Interstate and The Park. Modelled after Singapore Airline’s Boarding Pass privileges programme, passengers can avail special benefits from the partner hotels on presentation of their SpiceJet boarding pass. …

Thanks to rampant encroachment, over one-third of one of Asia’s longest and best runways, 11-29 at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport cannot be used. At any airport, two measurements are crucial for pilots for every runway. Landing Distance Available (LDA) and Take Off Run Available i.e. how much of the runway length is actually usable for flight operations. The …

While I am neutral on the recently concluded “sick-out” by the Jet Airways pilots, I caught a picture of one the few Jet Airway’s flights that performed during that time. At the time when the economy is still recovering, passengers are very valuable. Here is my photographic thanks to the flight crews who flew their passengers during the unrest. Do …

This is one of the finest airplane spotting photos I have ever taken. The first Airbus A330-200 of Kingfisher Airlines VT-VJK in it’s beautiful red and white livery against the blue spring skies approaching Bengaluru International Airport. Sadly this is a sight we cannot expect to see in Bangalore for the foreseeable future. In a re-structuring of it’s international operations …

Building on existing code share and interline arrangements, Indian state owned Air India has expanded its partnership with Singapore Airlines, by entering into an Frequent Flying Passenger (FFP) agreement, where frequent flyer programme members of both airlines will now be able to earn and redeem mileage points on flights operated by each other. Members of Air India’s Flying Returns programme …

Jet Airways and it’s no frills service Jet Airways Konnect, is offering passengers a monster 50% discount in economy class and 33% discount on it’s Jet Premiere business class fares. The discount includes the fuel surcharge component of the fare, so the discount does have significance. The sale of these special fares will be between September 14 and 16, 2009. …

The first Lufthansa A380 aircraft rolled out the final assembly hangar in Toulouse on September 7th, 2009. A380-841 Manufacturer Serial Number MSN038 which is currently registered as F-WWSH will eventually be registered as D-AIMA when it is delivered to Lufthansa next year. External ground tests are being carried out before preparation activities for the first flight. In a few weeks, …

A good way to end the week on a humorous note. Thanks to a comedy of errors due to a double goof-up by both passengers and airline Air India Express, four passengers from Bangladesh landed up in countries and cities far away from their destinations. Air India’s low fare subsidiary Air India Express operates a flight from the Bangladeshi capital …

A Jetlite Boeing 737-800, VT-SIJ peforming flight S2-703 from Mumbai to Kolkata with 141 passengers and 6 crew, suffered a tail strike. Tail strikes are not uncommon in longer aircraft, and the Boeing 737-800 features a tail skid plate to protect against structural damage as seen in this picture of a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800. Some newer 737s even have …

On 09-09-09 JetPhotos accepted my 100th photo. On a rainy cloudy evening of August 14th the day before India’s independence day, two F/A-18’s arrived for the trials and evaluation of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) upcoming Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft procurement. The other US contender is from my neighbourhood in my home county of Tarrant the Lockheed Martin F-16IN …

An Aeromexico Boeing 737 performing flight 576 from the Mexican resort of Cancun has been hijacked and flown to Mexico City, as per news media quoting Mexican officials say. Transport Minister Juan Molinar told Mexican radio the jet had landed safely at Mexico City’s international airport. Local media reported seeing passengers leaving the plane and boarding buses but the numbers …

09-09-09 at 09:09 (9:09AM) Today is a moment in the calendar to enjoy.

Over 40% of the 760 national pilots at India’s second largest airline, Jet Airways, have reported sick today causing widespread disruptions of flights and frayed tempers at airports across India. Since 22:00 (10pm) IST last night, a total of 163 captains and 198 first officers, reported sick leading to cancellation or disruption of over 186 flights – 154 domestic and …

Television news media coverage of aircraft incidents and accidents in India is normally incomplete and poor at best, liberally dosed with sensationalism that would make a Bollywood scriptwriter proud. The recent fuel leak and fire incident involving Air India Boeing 747-437 VT-ESM at Mumbai airport brought out the worst of India’s still nascent private television news channels. The real version …