Yearly Archives: 2017

Court favours Delhi airport, but IndiGo and Spicejet resist move to T2

Jet Airways A330 fleet at New Delhi IGI airport Terminal 2

In the on-going saga of getting airlines to move to the re-opened Terminal 2 (T2) at the Indira Gandhi airport, the Delhi High Court has passed a judgement favouring the airport operator M/s Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). In November, India’s largest domestic airline, Indigo, had approached the court petitioning against DIAL’s efforts forcing IndiGo to shift a part of …

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Inflight Review: Indigo: ATR 72: Hyderabad – Mangalore

The cabin of Indigo's ATR 72-600.

Low cost carrier Indigo has begun operations with it’s ATR 72. The flight was the first revenue flight for the airline on any aircraft type beside it’s mainstay Airbus A320. (Read our analysis on Indigo’s ATR order) We were invited by Indigo to travel on this first flight from Hyderabad to Mangalore. Personally, Indigo is my preferred airline to travel …

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Inflight Review: Jet Airways: Economy: 737-800: Bangalore – Singapore

Jet Airways' Boeing 737-800 VT-JBD

I had originally planned to fly Indigo to Singapore, but their flight timings are really inconvenient and the fare on Singapore airlines was double that of Jet on the days I wanted to fly. I have also been wanting to fly Jet on an international leg but due to non availability of award space or high fares on their flights …

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Inflight Review: Qatar Airways: Business: 777-300ER: Doha – Bangalore

Qatar Airways A7-BAC Boeing 777-300ER.

After getting off my last flight from Dallas (Read the review here.), I quickly went through security at Doha and headed to the Al Mourjan Business Lounge. I’ve written about this lounge before so I will not write about it again. I left the lounge late since I was stuck on a call over the lounge wi-fi and didn’t want …

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Lufthansa Group Miles & More program to become revenue-based from 2018

Lufthansa Boeing 747-8i D-ABYA at New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport at night.

Mimicking the move from US airlines, Lufthansa Group’s frequent flier program, Miles & More, will be shifting to a revenue-based earnings model from March 12, 2018. In this model earning of miles will be based on the price of your ticket including any carrier imposed fees and surcharges, rather than the distance you fly. Current system at Miles & More …

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Inflight Review: Qatar Airways: Business: A350-900: Dallas – Doha

The center table - during the flight there is also a bottle of champagne and some flutes placed here.

On my trip back from the US, I was originally booked to fly with Etihad. However the lack luster experience I had with them on my last flight and the horrible response from the customer care, I changed my booking onto Qatar airways. The middle east ban seems to have had an positive (for passengers) effect on Qatar’s award availability …

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Lounge Review: Qatar Airways lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth

While I was flying back from Dallas, I had the opportunity to use Qatar airway’s lounge at The Club at Dallas-Fort worth airport. The club at Dallas airport is the lounge used by all the airlines – however it is not a lounge by itself – Its a a series of mini lounges where each airline has it’s own lounge. …

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OAG report exposes gaps in DGCA on-time performance (OTP) reports

Bengaluru Kempegowda airport ramp. Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

Data from the world’s leading provider of digital flight information OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd, appears to contradict the On-Time Performance (OTP) as reported by the country’s regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). OAG which used to be the Official Airline Guide and handles more than 35 million dynamic flight status updates per day shows national leader IndiGo ranked …

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Lufthansa unveils business class seat for it’s 777x

German flag carrier Lufthansa has revealed the concept for its new business class which will feature on its 777-9 which is scheduled to be delivered in 2020. The cabin will feature lie flat seats with direct aisle access. The airline has gone for a particularly interesting staggered 1-2-1 and 1-1-1 configuration. That will make every alternate center seat a throne …

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IndiGo follows Go Air. To increase its A320neo seating to 186.

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Cabin. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

India’s largest domestic carrier IndiGo, is following the lead of fellow A320neo (new engine option) operator Go Air and will add another six seats to its new A320neo aircraft to increase capacity to 186 seats. IndiGo, the world’s largest A320neo operator has chosen to implement the Airbus Space-Flex cabin made by Zodiac Aerospace. The Space-Flex module was developed in order …

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Lounge Review: Port Lounge Ahmedabad

On my recent trip to the US, I flew Air India in business class from Ahmedabad to New York’s Newark airport via London. The Port Lounge is the sole lounge at Ahmedabad’s international terminal and as such is used as the contract lounge for all the carriers flying out of the terminal. The lounge is located on the departure level …

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Indigo takes delivery of it’s first ATR

Indigo ATR 72-600 VT-IYA. Indigo Image.

Low cost carrier Indigo has taken delivery of the first of it’s 50 ATR 72 order. This aircraft is the first non – A320 aircraft to be operated by the carrier since it’s inception in 2006. The aircraft is an ATR 72-600 with the registration VT-IYA. Indigo plans to use these ATR aircraft to operate to small airports under the …

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Video: The making of the IndiGo ATR72-600

A nice time-lapse video showing the making of IndiGo’s new regional turbo prop the ATR72-600. IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline will commence regional operations from December 21. Would you happen to know what ATR stands for? Without Google or Wikipedia?

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FlyDubai places $27 billion order for 737 MAX’s

Middle-eastern low cost carrier flydubai has signed an agreement for 225 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The order which is valued at $27 billion at list prices represents the largest single-aisle jet order from a middle-eastern carrier. The agreement includes a commitment for 175 MAX airplanes and an option for 50 additional MAXs. The initial order of 175 aircraft will be …

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Indigo Partners places record breaking Airbus order

American equity firm Indigo Partners’ has placed an additional order for 430 A320neo family aircraft for it’s four portfolio airlines. The aircraft will be allocated among the ultra low-cost airlines Frontier Airlines (United States), JetSMART (Chile), Volaris (Mexico) and Wizz Air (Hungary). The deal which is valued at $49.5 billion at current list prices, is the largest single order in …

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Only one runway in 50 years. India’s lagging airport expansion.

Runway 09 at Kempegowda airport, Bangalore. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

In 2006-07, Mumbai and New Delhi airports were awarded to M/s GMR and GVK and entered an era of private airport management. In the mean time, private public partnership greenfield airports were in progress at Kochi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. Passengers across the nation waited with anticipation to finally be free of the poor service standards of the Airports Authority of …

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Emirates orders 40 Boeing 787’s

The Boeing 787-10 rolled out at Boeing South Carolina. Boeing Image.

American airframer Boeing and middle-eastern carrier Emirates have announced a $15.1 billion deal to purchase 40 787-10 Dreamliners and related equipment at the opening day of the 2017 Dubai Airshow. The airline previously had an order for 70 Airbus A350’s which it cancelled in 2014. This order for 787’s will likely be used to replace some of Emirates’ older 777’s …

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IndiGo explains the Katyal manhandling incident, admits fault.

IndiGo A320 at Bengaluru airport

Low cost carrier IndiGo has written a detailed clarification to the Civil Aviation ministry explaining the manhandling incident of Mr. Katyal at New Delhi airport. The letter written by Mr. Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo’s President and Wholetime Director is addressed to Mr. P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India. The airline acknowledges its fault and …

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Analysis: Qatar buys 9.61% of Cathay Pacific for $662 million for China foothold

After being rebuffed in its attempt to buy a stake in US carrier and fellow oneworld member, American Airlines Group, national carrier Qatar Airways Q.C.S.C. has bought a 9.61% stake in another fellow oneworld carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Limited. Qatar Airways bought 378,188,000 shares of Cathay Pacific from Kingboard Chemical Holdings and its allied companies for HK$5.2 billion (approximately US$662 …

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