Malaysia based AirAsia is trying to create aviation history with the launch of six new routes between India and Malaysia in rapid succession. In one more “conquering of Indian skies by storm”, the new services to key metro cities include Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi from Kuala Lumpur and from Penang to Chennai. The Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad …

India’s second largest value carrier, SpiceJet, has been in the news over the last ten days with a variety of announcements. Maintenance contract with MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering Company Ltd. and MAS Aerospace Engineering (MAE) SpiceJet has signed a three year maintenance support agreement with MAE for the carrier’s fleet of all Boeing 737-800 and 737-900ER aircraft. SpiceJet is the launch …

A very happy Republic Day to all of India. Circa Aug 15th 1988, “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” (Your tune matches mine) – The iconic song was premiered on Doordarshan and instantly became India’s beloved melody. It featured many national icons of the time, including, Amitabh Bachchan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Kamal Hassan, Balamurlikrishna, Lata Mangeshkar, Prakash Padukone just to a name …

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-800, performing flight ET-409 from Beirut, Lebanon to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa crashed in to the Mediterranean Sea about 2nm (3.55 km) off the coast of Naameh soon after take-off around 02:35 (00:35Z). View ET-409 crash site in a larger map The aircraft with 82 passengers and 8 crew, was reportedly struck by multiple bolts …

The Deccan Herald is a leading English newspaper published by The Printers Mysore which based in Bangalore. On 30th November, they used and printed one of my copyrighted photos hosted on Flickr without contacting me and without obtaining my permission. The picture even carries the bangaloreaviation.com watermark on the right engine which has been reproduced in the photo printed in …

2010 is the 40th anniversary of the commencement of commercial operations of the venerable Boeing 747 ‘jumbo jet’. On this anniversary Flightglobal has put together an excellent historical perspective on the Boeing 747 which is well worth a read. Also do take the time to read Bangalore Aviation’s historical perspective on the 40 year old rivalry between Boeing and Airbus …

Unable to resist the intense pressure across the city, the Board of Directors of the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the company operating the Bangalore airport today reviewed the Master Plan for expansion of the Bengaluru International Airport and decided on the following: The process to start construction of a brand new terminal building T2 will be initiated on an …

Qatar Airways has formally announced the full details of the launch of its Bangalore Doha service. From February 22, QR will commence the service using an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two class configuration — 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy. With the Ministry of Civil Aviation under pressure for allowing Gulf carriers, most notably Emirates, to …

After much goading including, by yours truly, Jet Airways has finally embraced social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. Welcome aboard!!! Jet Airway’s objective is reaching a larger cross-section of its customers and keeping them informed on a real-time basis, and will also provide customers with news updates about flight schedules, new customer programs, route additions, services and special offers, etc. …

In December I had the pleasure of meeting with Karl Ulrich Garnadt, the Lufthansa board member responsible for their global network planning. Amongst many subjects discussed, I asked him what he thought would be a good strategy for Air India to adopt for the next five years. In parallel Behramjee has written a well thought out route re-structuring plan. I …

The beauty of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s wing flex can be seen in this great video from Liz Matzelle. Do visit her site for some other great videos.

News agencies are reporting a major systems crash at the air traffic control at IGI airport in New Delhi. All flight operations have been suspended for the last 30~45 minutes. There are sporadic reports from passengers who are sitting on-board aircraft on the ramp of one or two aircraft pushing back. This crash has occurred during the peak evening rush …

The next few months will see a spate of foreign carriers commencing operations from Bangalore. As already reported, Qatar Airways with its “best economy class in the world” will commence operations on February 23 using an Airbus A320 for the first five months. Subsequently, depending on the success of the Emirate’s negotiations on increase in the bi-laterals, the airline will …

As per the GDS, Singapore Airlines will introduce its new Airbus A330-300 aircraft (cabin images with iPod support here) on the Singapore Kolkata sector from July 2, 2010. It is a smart move by the carrier. Its A330s have the same two class (business and economy) configuration as the Boeing 777-200s it currently operates to Kolkata and Ahmedabad, but the …

In case you were wondering why I was missing in action during the last week — it was to prepare a very special thanks to all readers and supporters of Bangalore Aviation. The Bangalore Aviation 2010 calendar. The calendar is free to download. It is about 2.5MB, in A3 (11×17 inch) size, and in PDF format. You can also print …

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2010. India’s Jet Airways is close to finalising a deal with Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) to lease three Boeing 777-300ERs from Jet Airways. The deal with RBA could see the 777s flying in RBA service as early as February. These 777s are the same which Gulf Air had leased for a short period …