India has lost a dynamic and professional CEO in the airline industry. Sanjay Aggarwal has quit SpiceJet. Sanjay Aggarwal tendered his resignation after a board meeting on June 30, as per The Mint newspaper. Kishore Gupta, a representative of the Kansagara family on the airline board is likely to be the acting CEO till a permanent replacement is named. This …

The Government of India has imposed a service tax of 10.3 per cent on the gross value of tickets for all classes on domestic flights and economy class on international flights will be levied on tickets sold, issued or re-issued, from today. Service tax will be calculated on the gross value of the ticket for the calculation of the service …

The buzz in Indian aviation is the soon to be inaugurated Terminal 3 or T3 at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport. It is one of the largest terminal buildings in the world and India’s first integrated terminal. In these two part videos, NDTV’s Shekhar Gupta interviews Chairman of the GMR Group which heads the Delhi International Airport Ltd. …

Some pictures of aircraft cabins and cockpits taken during my visit to the India Aviation show in Hyderabad. I travelled to Hyderabad on Kingfisher’s all economy and ultra-long Airbus A321 VT-KFW. Took this picture during the descent in to Rajiv Gandhi International airport at Shamshabad. Awash in a sea of red, the cabin crew was very particular that I do …

The Lufthansa Group airlines offering services to India, Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines have announced an increase in services to 75 flights a week for the upcoming Winter 2010 schedule which commences October 29, 2010. Increases are by Austrian Airlines which adds five a week flights between Mumbai and Vienna, Swiss which takes its flights between Zurich Delhi and Zurich …

The Airbus single aisle A320 Family has achieved over 50 million flight movements (take offs and landings) since the first model, the A320, entered commercial service in 1988. The A320 family consists of the A318, A319, A320, and A321, as well as the ACJ business jet. In the last 22 years A320 Family aircraft have carried in excess of five …

While analysts are expressing apprehension on the high price GVK has paid to acquire its 29% stake in Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), the recent re-jig of the BIAL management structure shows insights in to how the GVK Group intends to re-coup its investment. The management re-jig has effective created an “airport operations group” and a “land development group” which …

Starting June 30, 2010 Mumbai based Jet Airways, and Chicago United Airlines, will commence their long pending code share agreement. Under the agreement Jet Airways will place its 9W airline marketing code on United’s trans-Atlantic flights operating between London and United’s five U.S. hub cities: Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington and on United’s daily trans-Pacific services between …

After six months of discussions, it is finally official. Media baron and political heavyweight, Kalanithi Maran will acquire a majority stake in low fare carrier SpiceJet.Mr. Maran in his individual capacity and via his aviation company KAL Airways jointly owned with wife Kaveri, will initially acquire the 37.73% stake of the Kansagara family promoted Royal Holding Services Ltd., Wilbur Ross …

The FIFA World Cup is upon us, and British Airways appears to have caught footie fever expective to transport over 70,000 passengers to South Africa over the next one month, on its 26 weekly flights. The airline has given selected aircraft “soccer noses”. Enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend. Remember to click on the image for a high …

On Monday evening an entire contingent of the elite 145 squadron of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) touched down at Bangalore’s HAL airport. The 145 Squadron “Hornet” is a strike fighter squadron of the RSAF currently based at the new airbase Changi Airbase (East) which to the east of Singapore Changi Airport. With hornets as their motif and …

May 22nd and I was back in my home town of Arlington, Texas, host to the next NFL Superbowl. Sure enough I was soon at DFW airport, home to one of the best spotting locations in world — Founder’s Plaza at the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport. Built by the airport operators, in cooperation and with funding from all the airlines, …

Dubai based Emirates Airline has increased its industry leading Airbus 380 superjumbo firm order tally to a whopping 90, by ordering a further 32 A380s from Airbus. A380 firm orders now stand at 234 from 17 customers. The order has a list price of US$ 11.5 billion but significant discounts are quite common. (Click on image for a high res …

The first Boeing 747-8 Freighter has been painted in launch customer, Cargolux’s, new livery. This photo captured as the plane emerged from the paint shop shows the new livery which is an evolution from the current design. The red, white and blue stripes symbolize the company’s roots in Luxembourg, and features a distinctive new red tail with an additional logo …

Kingfisher Airlines has officially become a member elect of the oneworld® alliance after its Chairman Dr. Vijay Mallya signed a formal membership agreement with all 12 of existing partners and members elect of the alliance. Ahead of Kingfisher is Russia’s leading domestic carrier S7 Airlines which is expected to join the alliance later this year. Kingfisher Airlines will bring 56 …

Jet Airways has replaced its premium passengers lounge at London’s Heathrow airport Terminal 4. Previously Jet was using the Etihad Airways lounge but has now shifted to the one year old SkyTeam lounge opposite gate 10. The two-floor lounge includes features such as food and bar counters on both levels, a wine bar, wi-fi internet access, a meeting room, showers …

I was recently interviewed by Ramanand Sengupta on the Shiva statue affecting Delhi IGI airport’s newest Code F runway 11-29. We also covered subjects of security, safety, and what I would do if I was offered the job of Minister of Civil Aviation (what a delicious thought). You can read the full interview here.

Thanks to NYCAviation I found this video of a Korean Airlines Boeing 777-300ER doing a tippy-toe Bollywood gyrating landing at Tokyo’s Narita airport. Also do take the time to visit NYCAviation and see the video of a rather terse and snippy argument between an American Airlines flight and the ATC tower at New York JFK.