The Media India Group recently conducted an interview with Indian civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.

The Breitling Jet Team is the largest civilian aerobatic display team in Europe. The team which commenced sponsorship by the Swiss timepiece manufacturer in 2010, is based in Dijon, France, and flies the Czech made Aero L-39 Albatros, the most widely used jet trainer in the world. As one of the pilots in the video says “Flying is an art” …

Earlier this week in a press conference at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Etihad CEO broke the news that Indian full service carrier Jet Airways will be transferring its European scissors hub from Brussels to Amsterdam. Thanks to the recently created Jetihad partnership (Etihad owns 24% of Jet Airways), Etihad exerts significant control over Jet’s international strategy. Jet Airways currently operates daily …

Digital marketing agency LBi has created a very interesting Infographic about the fleet of Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways. Etihad is a key supporter Formula 1 and of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, so naturally LBi could not help but including a few F1 racing comparisons. You can download the infographic after it opens in the light box …

by Vinay Bhaskara When Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airlines announced in late April that it had acquired a 24% stake in Mumbai Will the MEB3 hold sway? based full service carrier Jet Airways for $379 million, it marked a paradigm shift in the state of the Indian air travel market. The newly formed “Jetihad” partnership would hold a nearly 18% share …

by Devesh Agarwal Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. A chastened IndiGo airline, hurried modified portions of its much annoying seat pricing policy after facing the irritation of passengers and the rap of the civil aviation ministry. A late night statement from the airline says The feedback of our flyers is of utmost importance to us and as a …

Finnair has always marketed itself as an airline offering fast connections. In India they target the India to US traffic, while from the far and near east they offer fast connectivity in to Europe. To achieve this, the airline needs a state of the art network control centre (NCC) that monitors developments across the world that may affect flight operations, …

A student team from SRM University is one of the five teams selected by Airbus to compete in the third edition of the Fly Your Ideas (FYI) challenge. The other teams making the final are from Australia, Brazil, Italy and Malaysia. Team AVAS will now travel to France on June 12, 2013, to present their ideas to a jury of …

The first A350 XWB emerged from the paint shop at the Toulouse, France plant with its Airbus livery on 13 May 2013, marking a new milestone toward this jetliner’s maiden flight in the summer. Rumours abound that Airbus is trying to make the first before the Paris air show. All that aside, what do you think of how the plane …

Mittu Chandilya has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AirAsia India (Private) Limited. Mittu will assume office effective the 1st of June 2013. As per Mr. Chandilya’s LinkedIn profile his last position was Head of Services Practices for APAC, Egon Zehnder International at Singapore. His specialisation is in senior executive search and succession planning. In his words …

Qatar Airways, if offering exclusive savings to the debit and credit cardholders of Kotak Bank India. Card members can save up to 15% savings in Business Class and up to 10% in Economy Class. Members can make bookings online at www.qatarairways.com/in-kotak with payment using their debit and credit cards. The offer is valid for sale until 30 June 2013 and …

Turkish Airlines has finalized a firm order on US airframer Boeing for 40 737 MAX 8s, 10 737 MAX 9s and 20 Next-Generation 737-800 jets, valued at $6.9 billion at list prices. The order, originally announced as a commitment last month, also includes options for an additional 25 737 MAX 8s and is the largest Boeing order in Turkish Airlines’ …

By Oussama Salah, Vinay Bhaskara, and Devesh Agarwal Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal The Indian government often makes curious decisions in setting aviation policy. For example, it encouraged Air India to lower prices to gain market share, causing mayhem in the market place and increasing Air India’s losses. It also recently  allowed Air Asia to expand in India by approving a …

Jet Airways and JetKonnect have effectively hiked their fares by Rs. 1,250 by reducing the economy class free baggage allowance from 20 kilos to 15 kilos on all domestic flights within India, effective May 15, 2013. Cabin baggage will be restricted to seven kilos, against a national norm of eight kilos. Frequent flyers who are JetPrivilege elite status members, (Platinum/Gold/Silver), …

Last year, oneworld member Finnair teamed up with Finnish design and fashion house Marimekko. All Finnair aircraft will feature a Marimekko for Finnair collection of textiles and tableware, featuring Marimekko’s classic patterns which are specially designed to add a light and fresh visual and tactile dimension to the onboard experience. On of the first prints to be used was the …

by Devesh Agarwal Jet’s A330 fleet is expected to be deployed to Abu Dhabi The 24% stake sale by Jet Airways to Abu Dhabi owned and based Etihad Airways is a bonanza for both the airlines. For Jet Airways it gets a significant amount of cash it desperately needs to reduce part of its massive two billion dollar debt, since …

Major route announcements came from 2 Middle Eastern carriers yesterday, with Qatar Airways announcing plans to start new services to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (as well as Addis Ababa and Clark in the Philippines) and newly minted Jet Airways partner Etihad Airways revealing an up-gauge in capacity on its daily Abu Dhabi-New York JFK services to a Boeing 777-300ER. For Qatar …

by Devesh Agarwal Image courtesy Wikipedia CFM International announced that it has completed design freeze, i.e. freezing the design and engine configuration, for the LEAP-1B, the exclusive engine for the Boeing 737 MAX. LEAP is an acronym for “Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion”. The company expects the first full engine to test by mid 2014. CFM International, is a 50/50 joint …

JAL 787 at New Delhi prior to grounding The Japan Airlines (JAL) Group has announced its plans for flights and a phased re-introduction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in to service around June 1, 2013. The airline has set up a 787 dedicated micro-site on its website to explain the 787 fixes. A new daily 787 non-stop service between Tokyo …