India’s Jet Airways will operate a daily direct flight between Bangalore and Singapore from December 14, 2016. Flight 9W024 will depart Bengaluru Kempegowda at 11:10 and arrive at Singapore Changi at 18:10. Flight 9W023 will depart Singapore at 19:15 and arrive in Bengaluru at 21:15. The flight will be operated by a narrow body Boeing 737-800. Jet Airways intends to …

Earlier this week, Singapore Airlines launched its non-stop Singapore San Francisco flight, shaving a few hours off their total flight time between the Silicon Plateau of Bangalore (BLR) and the Silicon Valley served by San Francisco (SFO). The San Francisco Bangalore route is one of the most lucrative for the airlines. Even an airline not renowned for their service, Air …

Australian flag carrier Qantas has given its aircraft livery a subtle modernisation. This includes the iconic Kangaroo logo on the tails of its aircraft. It is only the fifth time the iconic red-and-white ‘roo’ has been updated since its introduction in 1944. Continuing a tradition The livery change continues a tradition at Qantas, of changing its livery whenever a new …

The Indian Defense Minister, Manohar Parrikar inaugurated Helicopter Engines MRO Pvt. Limited (HE-MRO), a Joint Venture of Safran and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), in Goa The maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility will offer services for Safran TM333 and HAL Shakti (a HAL co-development of the Safran Ardiden 1H1) engines installed on HAL-built helicopters from a 1,000 square metre office …

The Tata-SIA Airlines brand Vistara has received certification for operating in Category IIIB ultra-low visibility conditions the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The certification is a combination of all of the three “components”, the aircraft, the flight crew, and the airport, being approvd for Cat IIIB. All of Vistara’s A320 aircraft are Cat IIIB compliant and integrate …

European airframer Airbus built five A380’s for the initial flight test program of the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft. It still retains two aircraft in its test fleet which are used for on-going long term testing and for making improvements on the A380. F-WWOW (MSN 1) is fitted with the Rolls Royce Trent 970 engines, while F-WWDD (MSN 4) is …

US airframer Boeing has announced a $18.6 billion order from middle-eastern carrier Qatar Airways. The order includes a order for 30 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 777-300ERs, valued at $11.7 billion at current list prices and most importantly a Letter of Intent for up to 60 737 MAX 8s, valued at $6.9 billion at current list prices. The order builds on …

Singapore Airlines, Emirates, British Airways, Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific are the world’s top airlines as per readers of the Business Traveller magazine. The awards are widely recognised within the airline industry and accepted by frequent travellers as a benchmark for excellence. Star Alliance member Singapore Airlines won five awards. It was recognised as the best airline in the world, …

India’s largest private airline, Jet Airways, has expanded its recently introduced JetScreen domestic in-flight entertainment service via Wi-Fi streaming to 14 Boeing 737s, up from the five, when the service was introduced last month. Passengers aboard these 14 aircraft can stream video and audio content directly on their personal electronic devices (PEDs) such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Passengers …

European airframer Airbus has begun final assembly of its first A330neo at its final assembly line in Toulouse, France with the joining of the aircraft’s wings to the centre fuselage at station 40. According to Airbus, both the A330-800 and -900 feature A350-inspired wing with Sharklet wingtips, the new AirSpace by Airbus cabin and will reduce fuel consumption by 14 …

During the last week of September I was in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and I heard from the DFW Spotters that Boeing’s new upcoming 737 MAX8 N8704Q was performing customer familiarisation flights and flight testing at Dallas Lovefield airport, the hub of launch customer Southwest Airlines (SWA). The aircraft performed a variety of flights to various SWA destinations including Austin, …

Middle eastern carrier Qatar Airways has announced that it will be the global launch customer of GlobalBeacon, a technology solution by Aireon LLC and FlightAware, designed to provide up-to-the minute global tracking of all aircraft equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) in 2018. The system will make the airline compliant to ICAO’s 2021 flight tracking recommendations, three years before the …

Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Limited (TLMAL), a joint venture between Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Lockheed Martin Aeroframe Corporation delivered the 50th C-130J Super Hercules empennage assembly on 16 September. TLMAL was established in 2010 and began production of C-130J Super Hercules airframe components in late 2011. TLMAL is the single global source of C-130J empennage assemblies included on …

SpiceJetJet reported numbers for the first quarter and the earnings did not disappoint. For the quarter ending 30 June 2016, the airline reported a net profit of INR 149 crores with the same fleet as the previous quarter. The impact on the share prices was almost immediate with almost a 20% rise to INR 67.7 per share. An analysis of …

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has completed the first flight if it’s new Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). The flight is reported to have lasted about 15 minutes and marks the commencement of the aircraft’s flight test program. The LUH is powered by Safran’s Ardiden 1U engine and is intended to replace the Indian air force’s aging Chetak and Cheetah fleet. It …