This is an interesting snippet and for the interest of plane spotters. At present, the two leading airlines in India are Jet Airways and IndiGo; and they also happen to be aggressively adding aircraft to their fleet. By sheer coincidence, the registration sequences for the new aircraft for both these airlines happen to be very similar. Jet’s new Boeing 737s are …

JetPrivilege, the frequent flyer programme (FFP) of Jet Airways, has chosen a new partner for its co-branded credit card. HDFC Bank. Like in its earlier Citibank avatar, the JetPrivilege-HDFC Bank Credit Card will be offered on the MasterCard platform, but this time in three variants, World, Platinum and Titanium, unlike the previous one. Co-branded credit cards convert loyalty points offered …

Whenever a new aircraft arrives at an airport for the first time, it is given the traditional water cannon salute by the airport’s fire trucks spraying water high in to the air from both sides, to form an arch under which the aircraft passes. India’s capital New Delhi’s India Gandhi International Airport welcomed the first Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental D-ABYA as …

Photo copyright Weltenbummler. Licensed under CC. It is a well known business fact, that satisfaction and trust are created when contracts are balanced. Yet, globally, airline ticket contracts are extremely one-sided in favour of airlines, especially when it comes to flight delays and cancellations. In India, while the aviation regulator DGCA has rules on facilities to be provided to a …

Mumbai based full service carrier Jet Airways recently released its annual report for fiscal year 2011-2012, and amongst the many things discussed was this (not so) little nugget about Jet Airways’ frequent flyer program JetPrivilege. The loyalty industry is evolving in India. Your Company proposes to leverage this evolving business opportunity by setting up a marketing services company engaged in …

A simple statement issued by the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India says it all. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of Ministry of Civil Aviation as per following: (i) Air India be allowed to take the delivery of 27 numbers of B-787 aircraft after signing the Delay Compensation Settlement Agreement. (ii) The issue …

This week Bangalore Aviation crossed 2.3 million annual page views. On behalf of the entire team, I extend our sincerest and heartfelt thanks to each of our readers for their constant support in making us India’s leading aviation analysis website. You can see the readership statistics on the right side-bar about mid-way down the page. We are also ranked 15 …

European airframer Airbus has successfully powered-up the flight-deck of A350 XWB “MSN1” for the first time, following the initial application of electrical power to the aircraft’s front fuselage. The front fuselage was delivered to the Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse two weeks ago. Flight-deck power-on is an important step on the route to complete aircraft power-on and first flight, …

The on-going upgrade of Terminal 1 continues its progress. The airport operating company BIAL told Bangalore Aviation that the expansion would be completed in phases. First to be ready will be the new VVIP terminal building, followed by each of the left and right wings and finally the small strip in the front of the terminal where the current escalators …

The first of ten Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy lift transporters, ordered by the Indian Air Force (IAF), came together at the airframer’s Long Beach, California facility on July 31. An IAF officer drives rivets in to the C-17 fuselage Indian embassy officials, senior Indian Air Force officers and local elected officials including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher drove ceremonial rivets into …

Earlier today, a report from liveMint.com (India’s version of the Wall Street journal), stated that Mumbai based full service carrier Jet Airways has formally asked the Indian government for approval to join the Star Alliance global partnership of carriers. Readers of Bangalore Aviation will remember that beleaguered national carrier Air India was put on hold indefinitely by Star Alliance in August of …

Airbus has a simple way for you to make your own Airbus A320neo. Download the A4 version here. Then cut, fold, enjoy.

The second Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be built at the airframer’s Charleston, South Carolina facility suffered a serious engine mishap during pre-flight testing on the afternoon of Saturday. This aircraft is due to be delivered to national carrier Air India as VT-ANJ. A Boeing spokesperson told Bangalore Aviation “A 787 experienced an engine issue July 28 while undergoing preflight runway …

Tokyo Narita based Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA), became the first Japanese operator of the 747-8 Freighter. The airline currently operates eight 747-400 Freighters with two 747-400 Freighters on lease with other airlines. The environmentally focused Nippon Cargo Airlines will also operate the delivery flight of this aircraft using biofuel. The new airplane will become the first 747-8 to use a …

National carrier Air India can expect to take delivery of up to three or four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners as early as next week, as a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by home minister P. Chidambaram, approved a compensation demand for an almost four year delay in delivery, made by the carrier on the airframer. After the GoM meeting, India’s civil …

A few days ago, Mr. Rahul Bhatia, co-promoter of Indian low cost carrier IndiGo, stated in public, grievances, that many in the Indian airline industry believe in private. That the government is not behaving in a fair manner and keeping alive national carrier Air India on life support with massive bailouts of public money, preferential treatment in route allocation, etc. …

As with all of the Indian airlines, Delhi based low cost carrier SpiceJet faced disappointing financial results in the fourth quarter and full year of fiscal year 2012, posting a net loss of Rs. 605.8 Crore for FY 11-12 and Rs. 249.2 for Q4. After large net losses at India’s two other publicly traded carriers Kingfisher and Jet Airways, SpiceJet’s …

The abrupt removal of India’s chief civil aviation regulator, the Director General of Civil Aviation, Mr. E.K. Bharat Bhushan, earlier this month, once again brings forth the cross-workings within the ministry of civil aviation, caused by contradictory roles, many of which are driven by political agendas, and the urgent need to re-structure this mammoth ministry to correct the malaise. Indian …

Shot at the limit of 400mm, Boeing Super Hornet NJ135 belonging to the US Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 122 (VFA-122), The Flying Eagles, pulls high G’s away from the admiring crowd, including me. Condensation, afterburners burning bright orange, and their massive heat obscuring part of the aircraft, this photo has it all. Incidentally, NJ135 also performed at Aero India last …