Seat Map.Singapore Airlines (SQ) has introduced a new cabin product on board its daily Boeing 777-200 service between Singapore and Bangalore which is probably the best cabin product ex-Bangalore by any airline in business class. Previously SQ used to fly a three class Boeing 777-200 in a dense 12-42-234 seat configuration. That product was not particularly liked by frequent business …

Ever since the unfortunate crash of Air India Express’ Boeing 737-800 VT-AXV at Mangalore Bajpe, I have been inundated by requests across the world to comment and even speculate about the crash and possible causes. Over the last few days we see all kinds of high energy stories in the media, be it speculating on reasons for the crash, or …

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued two urgent safety recommendations affecting General Electric CF6-45/50 engines. This engine is found mostly on cargo aircraft like Airbus A300s (now retired by Air India), Boeing 747s, DC-10s, MD-11s, and U.S. Air Force KC-10 tankers. However, there is a case involving a passenger Boeing 747-300 of Saudi Arabian Airlines. The …

The recent crash of the Air India Express Boeing 737-800 VT-AXV at Mangalore Bajpe airport continues to grab headlines. Numerous analytical reports can be found in the newspapers both national and regional. With the short-comings in the design of the runway at Mangalore, many reports are questioning the independence of the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation when it …

In early March, India’s only officially recognised plane spotting group Aviation Photographers India was approached by two students of Convergence Institute of Media Management (Commits), a media college in Bangalore to help them in producing of a Television news story type film for their college examination. Rohita Rambabu and Ketaki Ankalikar, students of the I year MA (Audiovisual Communication) course …

One of the latest Boeing 737-800 aircraft in low cost carrier Air India Express’ (AIX) fleet, VT-AXV, performing flight IX-812 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Mangalore Bajpe, India overshot the runway early this morning while attempting to land, and crashed at 06:10 local (00:40Z) into a wooded valley near Kenjar village about ten km NE of Mangalore airport. Initial …

This is good news for the members of the Aviation Photographers India. Gurgaon based value carrier is breaking new ground and sponsoring the first ever plane spotting photo contest in India. Winners will get free round-trip tickets on the SpiceJet network. The pictures can be uploaded to the SpiceJet Facebook page or sent via e-mail to spicejet.photos@gmail.com. Full details of …

At a glittering ceremony in Hamburg, Lufthansa has taken delivery of D-AIMA, the first of its 15 Airbus A380 superjumbos ordered. Due to production delays at airframe manufacturer Airbus S.A.S, only three more A380s will join the fleet in 2010. Lufthansa becomes the fifth airline after Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas and Air France, to introduce the A380 into service. The …

Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director is one of the few bureaucrats that receives praise from across the board, especially the private sector. His determined, no-nonsense, aggressive management style has earned him, both respect and angst. Anjuli Bhargava is another of those aviation journalists I have the highest respect for. We agree on almost all points of Indian aviation, most …

Bengaluru International Airport will shut down its single runway 09-27 on four nights in May to take-up urgently needed re-carpeting work. Authoritative sources at the airport, inform Bangalore Aviation, the runway will shut down from 23:30 to 05:30 the next morning (18:00 to 00:00 Z). The closures will commence on the nights of 9, 11, 16, and 18 May local. …

In 2005 both Boeing India chief Dinesh Keskar and Airbus India chief Kiran Rao had smiling faces. They had each locked in big orders. Air India had placed a mammoth order for 68 aircraft with Boeing which included 18 737-800, eight 777-200LR, 15 777-300ERs and 27 787-800 Dreamliners, while low cost carrier IndiGo placed an order for 100 Airbus A320-232. …

Last week Malaysia based low cost carrier AirAsia commenced its second phase of India expansion becoming the only carrier with flights between Chennai the capital of Tamil Nadu state in India, and the northern technology manufacturing centre of Penang in Malaysia. Apart from the scores of ethnic Tamil origin population on both sides, major electronics players like Dell, Flextronics, Foxcon, …

Over the last few months, I have grown to respect Tarun Shukla. Tarun and his colleague P.R. Sanjai at the Mint newspaper (a joint venture of The Hindustan Times and The Wall Street Journal), take the time to well research and write, analytical stories on the Indian aviation industry. This week, Tarun has detailed the rather rapid decline of Paramount …

In a surprise move, German carrier Lufthansa will ignore its two largest markets, the United States and India, when commences its Airbus A380 uber-jumbo flights in couple of months. Instead, the carrier will commence its A380 services between Frankfurt and Tokyo Narita first, and then Beijing, China. Johannesburg in South Africa will be the third A380 destination for the German …

From Monday this week, Kingfisher Airlines launched three more new international routes, from New Delhi to Kathmandu and from New Delhi and Mumbai to Dubai. Kingfisher now flies its luxurious wide body Airbus A330’s to London and Hong Kong from Mumbai and Delhi, and to Singapore from Mumbai and it operates two-class A320s featuring the very posh Kingfisher First cabin …

An Emirates airline Boeing 777-21H registration A6-EML performing flight EK530 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) to Kochi, India (COK) with 350 passengers and 14 crew, was en-route at FL350 (35,000ft) and just about to begin descent towards Kochi, when the airplane experienced severe turbulence for a brief period of time. As per a statement released by the airline, the …

Jet Airways’ all-economy service ‘Konnect’, will launch a new premium cabin product on some of their Boeing 737 aircraft called ‘Konnect Select’ on April 26th. Sounds confusing? Jet Konnect is by the airline’s own definition an “all economy” service. This moniker will get removed when the new premium class is introduced. A Jet Airways spokesperson clarified, the new cabin will …

Here I am in Jitra, a small hamlet in the extreme north of Malaysia just about 30 km (20 miles) from the Thailand border. View Larger Map Like so many others, my world is turned upside down thanks to the volcanic ash cloud emanating from Iceland. We have been hearing of airlines loosing over $200 million a day, but what …

Last week I had discussed the need to review the requirement of Indian aviation security agencies of placing a stamp on boarding passes and hand luggage tags. Many readers have commented about similar experiences and the frivolity of having such an archaic system which has become irrelevant in a modern world where threats are more insidious and require ever increasing …