At a time when airport authorities in Singapore, Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan, are reducing their airport charges to stimulate air travel, travellers flying from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai will pay more soon. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has recently sent a letter to the GVK promoted, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), allowing the airport operator to increase …

Air New Zealand, the launch customer, of the much awaited, and much delayed, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, in a statement announced “Boeing confirmed yesterday a further 12 month delay could be expected with the first 787-9 aircraft to be delivered to Air New Zealand in the first quarter of 2013,” Air New Zealand has eight 787-9 on order. Originally deliveries were …

Okay, now we know the festive season is upon us. Just as mother nature was letting up on the winter snow storm, “Shiner” the sea-lion decided to make Oakland airport home. Marine Mammal Center workers rescued the animal by 1:30 p.m. PST. Read the full story from San Jose Mercury News here.

British Airways is having a New Year sale starting from today, December 23. Fares to New York for as low as £259 (saving £78). Boston, Philadelphia and Washington from £279 (saving £79, £69 and £69 respectively). Los Angeles and San Francisco are on sale from £339 (saving £63 each) and Chicago is available from £289 (saving £89). New Delhi from …

In the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today that airport developers both in public and private sectors are not getting their dues from the airlines on time which is causing them financial problems. As per the minister’s statement in the house In respect of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI), the dues, …

As we wind down the year, and gear up for the festive season, I thank all the readers of Bangalore Aviation for their support and patronage. I wish you and each of your near and dear ones, a most joyous holiday, and may 2009 be bountiful, profitable, and successful. Some interesting stories that I came across today. Business Traveller has …

Turkish Airlines (THY) will begin offering first class seats on the three Boeing 777-300ERs, recently leased from Jet Airways, by Dec. 29, THY General Manager Temel Kotil has said. The first 2 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft scheduled to join the fleet on December 24th and 25th, 2008 are configured with 8 First Class suites, 30 Business in a herringbone layout, and …

According to a report in today’s Economic Times (ET), low cost carrier (LCC) GoAir is expanding its fleet and operations. The airline has decided to scale up its fleet size to 35 by March 2011 from the existing strength of six aircraft. The airline will add 20 aircraft by end of this year and later bring in another nine in …

Nathan Hurst at The Detroit News has written a good article on how Detroit Metropolitan Airport is fast loosing ground as the United States’ gateway to Asia. The airport is facing a slew of delayed introductions, reduction in frequencies, and in some cases outright cancellations of flights to a variety of Asian cities. Detroit is the home of the automotive …

British Airways has placed firm orders on Embraer for eleven fuel efficient E-Jets, comprised of six Embraer 170 and five Embraer 190SR jets, with options for an additional three 190SR jets. The Embraer 170s will be powered by General Electric CF34-8C5 engines and the 190SRs will be powered by CF34-10E5 engines. The airline’s wholly owned subsidiary BA CityFlyer, which operates …

Reuters is reporting that Australia’s competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, sued the cargo unit of Singapore Airlines on allegations they were involved in international price-fixing. The commission has already taken action against Qantas Airways and British Airways, who paid fines totaling $17.1 million. The commission accused Singapore Airlines Cargo, of entering into arrangements with other carriers to …

Heavy fog today hit air and train traffic at New Delhi, with about 20 flights from Indira Gandhi International Airport here being delayed and two cancelled while over 25 Delhi-bound trains running late by upto 11 hours. Dense fog enveloped the airport around 11.30 am with runway visibility dropping to 600 metres which forced the airport authorities to implement the …

In a second incident involving a commercial jet mishap at a major airport in just about twelve hours, as per Reuters, a Continental Airlines Boeing 737 plane went off the runway and caught fire at Denver International Airport at 18:18 December 20, (01:18 GMT December 21). Less than 12 hours earlier, at 13:51 GMT, December 20, a Gulf Air Airbus …

The two luxury hotels at the hub of the recent Mumbai terror attacks, the Trident Hotel, and the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers, re-open in Mumbai today. Ratan Tata, chief executive of the Tata Group which owns the Taj, has vowed to restore the building to its former glory after it was ravaged by fire, bullets and grenades. The whole …

PTI reports, the engine of a Gulf Air Airbus A321 aircraft with 124 passengers and nine crew caught fire a few minutes prior to its take-off today, disrupting flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai, for about an hour. “The engine of the Bahrain-bound Gulf Air flight GF 065 caught fire just when it was lined up …

oneworld, the global airline alliance, claims to have become the first to launch a new internet booking tool to allow purchasing of multi-airline round-the-world air tickets. The oneworld Explorer fare tool is available on the Oneworld website, making the airline alliance the first alliance to offer public fares for sale on the internet. All oneworld member airlines will also provide …

BIAL, the promoter of Bengaluru International Airport, has been making steady progress in streamlining operations, and increasing functionality and usability at airport, especially in the non-passenger areas, but BIAL had a litany of woes yesterday, which made for a terrible Friday, and left me shaking my head, commiserating with BIAL. First, the Karnataka High Court ruled that the airport is …

In 2009, Delta Air Lines will add its first-ever daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia* effective July 1; three-times weekly service between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil* beginning May 21; and increased service between Los Angeles and New York-JFK starting March 2. The current seven daily flights between Los Angeles and New York-JFK will increase to …

Thanks to a post by Jon Ostrower at FlightBlogger, I came across some breathtaking 360 degree panoramas of the Airbus A380. Thanks Jon. The photographer, Giles Vidal, has produced several panoramic views from the delivery of the first A380 to Singapore Airlines, including tours of the cabin, to the A380 cockpit, and now a beautiful panoramic look inside the cabin …

As I indicated in my previous article, there are strong rumours of a “merger” or “tie-up” between Australian carrier Qantas and Malaysian Airlines (MAS). Given the regulatory stranglehold and national politics involved in Asia, a full merger is next to impossible. Not only do I feel that this tie-up will happen, I strongly believe that it will result in positive …