Bell Helicopter, has made the first delivery to an Indian customer of the Bell 407GX. SpanAir, the country’s leading air charter company which specialises in customized travel options, is the proud recipient. Built on the proven and well respected 407 platform the 407GX features the first integrated Garmin G1000H™ flight deck which provides critical flight information at a glance for …

If you fly Air New Zealand, from the end of February be prepared to see this video of your favourite bikini-clad super-models demonstrating the safety procedures. The airline known for its forward-looking, racy, and anything-goes approach to air safety videos, has released a new four minute ten second one titled “Safety in Paradise” featuring Sports Illustrated swimsuit super-models Chrissy Teigen, …

India’s junior minister for civil aviation K.C. Venugopal today informed the Lok Sabha about incentives being offered to encourage operation of flights to airports which are of low density or do not have current flight operations. No landing charges levied on aircraft with maximum certified capacity of below 80 seats being operated by domestic scheduled airlines and helicopters of all …

Russian national carrier Aeroflot, has taken delivery of its first A320 aircraft equipped with Sharklets, the new wing tip devices. Aeroflot’s A320, powered by CFM56 engines, features a two class cabin, seating 158 passengers with right seats in business class and 150 in economy. The aircraft is named after a famous Russian chemist Alexander Butlerov. Aeroflot was the first airline …

National carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas has signed a purchase agreement for four Airbus A330-200s. The airline will announce the engine selection at a later date. Argentina’s flagship carrier will deploy the new A330 aircraft for medium and long haul routes from their Buenos Aires hub to destinations throughout Latin America, Europe and the United States. The airline currently operates eight A340-300s, …

Vijayawada based Air Costa has agreed with Brazil’s Embraer S.A. a firm order for 50 E-Jets E2s with an additional 50 purchase rights options. The order is a mix of 25 E190-E2s and 25 E195-E2s and has an estimated value of USD 2.94 billion based on list prices, though it is standard practice for manufacturers to extend hefty discounts on …

That Indian politicians and their cohorts make unreasonable demands of the national carrier Air India is a well known fact. But now, it appears this disease is afflicting the common passenger as well. Last week some of the 50 passengers on board Air India’s flight AI-433, a 250km 20 minute hop from Gaya to Varanasi, went on a rampage clashing …

Air India Express, the low cost arm of beleaguered Indian national carrier Air India, is looking to lease eight new Boeing 737-800 aircraft for a period of between eight and twelve years. According to a tender released by the airline, Air India Express is looking to dry lease eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft equipped with winglets for an initial period of …

In this week’s edition of Plane Spotting, we take a look at the Boeing 777 Freighter. The Boeing 777 family is without doubt the most popular large size twin-jet aircraft of all time. Boeing delivered the first 777, a -200 to United Airlines back in 1995. Since then over 1100 of these aircraft have been built. The Boeing 777F is …

Gurgaon head-quartered low fare carrier SpiceJet Ltd today announced the appointment of Mr. Kaneswaran Avili (“Kanesh”) as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Kanesh will take charge effective April 1. He has worked for 12 years in the highly competitive world of low cost airlines in Asia, and was part of the start up team of AirAsia in 2001. Avili played …

Singapore Airline’s full service regional subsidiary SilkAir has commenced on its transition from an all Airbus A319 and A320 fleet to an all Boeing 737 fleet. The airline took delivery of its first Next-Generation 737-800. Over the coming years, Boeing will deliver a total of 23 737-800s and 31 737 MAX 8s to SilkAir. SilkAir’s new 737 will enter service …

German carrier Lufthansa has appointed Wolfgang Will as its new Director India, effective 1 February 2014. Based in Gurgaon, Mr Will shall be responsible for overseeing the airline’s commercial activities in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He succeeds Axel Hilgers, who moves to Paris as head of Lufthansa ground operations for France, after an almost five year stint in India. …

Last week, the Indian aviation community was abuzz with the news that the government had finally permitted operations of the Airbus A380 in to India. In its announcement, the ministry mentioned Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Emirates as potential candidates in operating the aircraft to India, but there are seven other operators of the giant, all of whom, with the exception …

Claiming unfair advantage being giving to foreign carriers, Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest, along with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) which represents 47,000 pilots working for 28 U.S. commercial airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines, have sued the Export-Import Bank of the United States for providing cheap financing in the form of $1.3 billion in loan guarantees and …

The Boeing company which has a major presence in the Seattle, Washington, USA area, is a supporter of the home NFL football team, the Seattle Seahawks, who beat the Denver Broncos in the championship Superbowl game, held yesterday. To celebrate the Seahawks, and their “12th player”, the team’s fans, Boeing painted one of its 747-8F N770BA in a special livery. …