Airports are strategic assets for any country. As airport impact growth and connectivity impacts that lend themselves to improving tourism, trade, technology, transport and talent. Consider India’s lacklustre trade figures – currently at 1.2 percent of global trade; innovation – where no Indian university lists amongst the top twenty globally; and slowing economic growth. As policymakers and economists rush to …

Indian aviation has been on a growth path. With demand growing by leaps and bounds, the number of aircraft in the skies has soared. And the growth is likely to continue. These aircraft are faster, more efficient and more advanced than ever before and much of this efficiency is by virtue of the engines. Each aircraft is powered by specific …

Indian airlines are in a rush to start international services – or so we are made to believe. BangaloreAviation recently reviewed the bilateral rights applied for against what airlines have started. Route choices clearly emerged although experts indicate that there’s a fair amount of posturing involved. That is, airlines will often ask for routes they know they will not fly …

The protests in Hong Kong have been covered all over the news for the last few weeks. Today is the fourth day of what was originally supposed to be a three day airport protest. Till now the protests have generally not affected the city’s aviation, today however the protests have caused the shut down of Hong Kong International airport. Extremely …

SpiceJet reported their Q1FY20 earnings this Friday. A profit was expected but the quantum of the profit surprised several analysts. The airline reported a net profit of INR 261.7 crore and total income of INR 3,145.3 crore for the quarter ending June 2019 as against a loss of INR 38.1 crore and INR 2,253.3 crore for the corresponding quarter last …

German flag carrier Lufthansa has announced that it will begin operating direct flights between Munich and Bangalore from 31 March 2020. The flight will be operated five times weekly by an Airbus A350-900. The airline already operates a daily flight to Bangalore from Frankfurt using the Boeing 747-8i.   On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the flight will take …

The Tata-Singapore Airlines joint-venture Vistara will commence daily flights on the New Delhi Bangkok sector from August 27, 2019. Bangkok is the third international destination for the airline. It commenced flights to Singapore today, and will commence flights between Mumbai and Dubai on August 21st. Like it Mumbai Dubai flights, Vistara will use its three-class Airbus A320neo on the Bangkok …

The Tata-Singapore Airlines joint-venture Vistara will commence flights on the Mumbai Dubai sector from August 21, 2019. This flight will operate on a schedule very similar to that operated by Jet Airways which suspended operations in April. Dubai will be the second destination for Vistara. The airline will commence flights to its first international destination, Singapore, from New Delhi and …

India’s largest carrier, Indigo will begin flights to Hanoi, Vietnam from Kolkata on 3 October 2019. Hanoi will be the carrier’s 19th international (5th Southeast Asian) destination. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo “It is truly a very special moment for all of us at IndiGo as it is the first route connecting Kolkata to Hanoi. This milestone reflects our …

Ethiopian Airlines will begin operating flights from its base at Addis Ababa to Bangalore from 27 October 2019. The African carrier will operate the flight using a Boeing 737. Ethiopian already operates passenger flights to India with twice dailies to Mumbai on the Airbus A350 and to Delhi on the Boeing 767. The Bangalore flight will depart Addis Ababa at …

Middle eastern carrier Emirates will begin operating a fourth flight from Bangalore to Dubai. The flight will be a mid-morning departure and will be operates three times a week – on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It is scheduled to be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR and will bring Emirates from 21 to 24 flights from Bangalore weekly. The service will …

Flying has captured the imagination of the human mind for centuries. Way before the Wright Brothers gave us wings. What was once considered a luxury is now the means to an end for over 8 million people everyday. The advent of Low Cost airlines has stripped flying of its frills and made it even more accessible. Yet, boarding an aircraft …

Indigo reported its Q1FY20 results on Friday. With a profit of INR 1203 crore it is the highest net profit for any airline in Indian aviation. The airline looked good on all metrics ranging from financial to strategic and operational. Interestingly, while this quarter was indeed driven by the collapse of Jet Airways, Indigo’s contention is that this did not …

Go Airlines has called a press conference on July 18th, 2019. The note to press indicates that it is “to share expansion plans.” As the airline is without a Chief Executive Officer, the event will be handled by their vice-president for airports, marketing and network. The airline has just appointed Miranda Mills, an executive with 25 years of experience in …

Indigo seems to have encountered severe turbulence as the fight between the co-founders has now become very public. There have been accusations, counters and name-calling. The issues highlighted range from related party transactions (RPTs) to those of governance. And for an airline that now flies one in every two passengers in the Indian skies, is on a solid financial footing, …

Full service carrier Vistara (Tata-SIA) has announced that it will begin its first international routes to Singapore from Mumbai and New Delhi. The airline will operate a daily flight from Delhi and Mumbai starting 6 and 7 August 2019 respectively. Vistara will operate these flights with Boeing 737-800s in a two-class cabin configuration. Flights between Delhi (DEL) and Singapore (SIN) …

Military aviator and strategist John Boyd famously said, “If you want to understand something, take it to the extremes or examine its opposites.” Applied in the context of Air India, this becomes particularly interesting. That is, at a point of time where everyone seems to be convinced that the airline will be sold off, to understand the situation fully one …

Airbus closed the first half of 2019 by adding 145 orders to its order book in June. As expected the slew of orders from the Paris Air Show pushed the European manufacturers net orders for the year into the black, with a net positive of 88 aircraft. The Paris Air Show saw Airbus launch the A321XLR for which the manufacturer …

Suadi Arabian low cost carrier Flyadeal is backing out of a provisional $5.9 billion order for 50 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The low cost subsidiary began of flag-carrier Sudia began operations in 2017 and currently operates an all Airbus fleet of A320s. In December 2018, the airline placed a provisional order for 30 firm orders and 20 options of the …