As Air India joins the world’s largest grouping of airlines, the Star Alliance, as its 27th member on July 11, 2014, there will be benefits that will be enjoyed by both the airline and passengers. The alliance currently has 26 member airlines from all continents, except Antarctica and carried 637.62 million passengers last year. African member airlines are: EgyptAir MS, …

After years of trying and suffering the ignominy of being the only airline whose membership process was suspended, national carrier Air India was approved for membership of the world’s largest airline grouping, the Star Alliance. The final integration processes by teams at Air India, the Star alliance and its member carriers will be completed so that the first Indian carrier …

Very simple ……. this. Unlike bricks and cobblestones, paver blocks are placed on a bed of sand without any concrete. So when some very smart people decided to test run the CFM56 engines of a Shaheen Air International Boeing 737-400 at Sialkot airport in Pakistan, the pavers turned in to barrage of debris damaging the aircraft. Thanks to the aircraft …

Just about two weeks ago, Dubai-based Emirates airline and European airframer Airbus S.A.S. announced the cancellation of the 70 aircraft A350 XWB order, 50 A350-900 and 20 A350-1000 citing outcomes “as a result of a fleet requirements review.” While the cancellation was downplayed by Airbus as “not good news commercially” but “not bad news financially”, it is most definitely a …

Twenty-nine years ago today, June 23, 1985, a air bombing that shook the world and introduced stringent security checks on checked-in luggage. Air India Boeing 747-237B c/n 21473 line 330, registration VT-EFO and named Emperor Kanishka was operating flight AI182 on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. In the early hours of the morning, as the aircraft approached Ireland at an altitude of …

Yesterday, June 22, 2014, marked the 30 year anniversary of Virgin Atlantic’s first flight. Apart from being an inspirational article, a piece in The Telegraph by the maverick founder of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, give us insight to his motivations, his business acumen and key differentiators that make the Virgin airlines’ group a household name today. (scroll below video …

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has taken one of the final steps to commercial service, it has been certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for commercial service. To earn certification for the 787-9, Boeing undertook a comprehensive test program with five airplanes and more than 1,500 hours of flight testing, plus ground …

Qatar Airways is expanding it’s service to Japan with it’s newest destination, Tokyo Haneda International Airport. The new route will double the airlines service to Tokyo to two flights a day. The route which will be operated by a Boeing 787 dreamliner, will be the airlines third to Japan, joining Osaka and Tokyo Narita International Airport. Tokyo Haneda International Airport is one of two …

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority has awarded Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the airport operator of the Kempegowda International Airport, at Bangalore a significant fee increase affecting both airlines as well as passengers, effective July 1, 2014. Departing passengers will see an increase of up to 31% in the User Development Fee (UDF). Five years on, with virtually no utilisation …

Last Sunday, June 15th, The Economic Times newspaper carried my opinion piece on the excessive meddling of the Indian civil aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA in short, in the day-to-day operations of airlines in India. Using the example of how the DGCA, in direct contradiction of its own policies (read DGCA ATC 3 of 2013 …

Last Saturday, Malaysia Airlines operated the last flights of it’s 737-400 fleet. The airline has now decommissioned the last of it’s 737-400 fleet. The -400 is being replaced by the newer 737-800 series in the airlines fleet. The Boeing 737-400 was part of the “Classic Series” of the 737. The 737-400 launched in 1985 to fill the gap between the 737-300 and the …

With its newest aircraft joining the fleet, India’s largest domestic carrier, IndiGo has crossed the 500 daily flights mark, now operating 52 daily flights to 36 destinations. The new aircraft will perform the following flight schedule. Flt no. Origin Destination Departure Arrival Fares* W.e.f. 6E 536 Delhi Jammu 2:55pm 4:20pm 2700 10 June 6E 535 Jammu Delhi 4:50pm 5:55pm 2424 …

India’s largest private carrier Jet Airways has expanded its code-share partnership with Etihad Airways which holds a 24 percent stake in the former. The agreement will allow Jet passengers from India to connect on to flights on the Etihad network via Abu Dhabi to European destinations including, Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Manchester, Milan, Munich, and Paris, to north …

National carrier Air India (AI) has signed a code-share arrangement with Hong Kong Airlines (HX) under which the latter will place its flight codes on Air India’s flights between New Delhi and Hong Kong and between Hong Kong and Osaka Kansai, Japan and Seoul Incheon, Korea. The code-share flight will be effective on June 10th for the flights between Delhi …