After a gap of 12 years, the Indian Air Force has deployed Mig 29 fighters to Hindon air base near New Delhi. This is the first time since 1996 that the base has reactivated for fighter aircraft operations after it was closed due to increasing bird activity near the base. At that time, MiG 27 were stationed there. In 2006, …

Bloomberg has an interesting analysis of the risks to British Airways after the failure of its merger talks with Qantas, and why BA must pursue its long dragging discussions with Iberia to success. Click here to read the article.

The Competition Commission (CC) has confirmed that, subject to final consultation, it will require BAA to sell both Gatwick and Stansted airports as well as Edinburgh airport. It also proposes to introduce measures to ensure that investment and levels of service at Heathrow, and possibly Gatwick and Stansted, meet more effectively the needs of airlines, passengers and other airport users. …

British Airways Plc and Qantas Airways Ltd are announcing that after detailed discussions about a potential merger, talks have ended. Despite the potential longer term benefits to both British Airways and Qantas, the airlines have not been able to come to agreement over the key terms of a merger at this time. British Airways and Qantas will continue to work …

Next Generation Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) to use global positioning data to pinpoint aircraft positions, rather than Old Generation radar Newark Liberty International Airport will become the nation’s first major hub to test a new satellite navigation technology to help reduce flight delays, under an agreement approved today by the Port Authority’s board of commissioners. The technology, called Ground …

Is this the shape of new Airbus A320 family aircraft to come ? Jon Ostrower at FlightBlogger has the report with more pictures. Click here to read it. December 17th update. Airbus press release. Airbus has started flight-testing of Blended Winglet devices on an Airbus A320. The Blended Winglet technology, developed by Aviation Partners Inc. (API), has been specially adapted …

With terror threat on the aviation sector looming large, Government has decided to introduce checking of passengers at ladder-points in all functional airports across the country and enhance the strength of sky marshals on more flights. These and other measures were reviewed at a meeting Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had with airport operators, airlines and all concerned agencies. “The …

Singapore Airlines will begin a four-times-weekly service to Kuwait from 15 March 2009. Flying via Abu Dhabi, the service will operate on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, using Boeing 777-200 aircraft. As a consequence of the introduction of this service, Singapore Airlines will now fly between Singapore and Abu Dhabi daily, up from the existing three times weekly service. From …

London’s Heathrow airport has put up special illumination at it’s Terminal 5 (T5). I hope you enjoy the video below. For more information visit terminal5.ba.com

Oman Air will switch its Airbus A310 Muscat London flights from Gatwick to Heathrow from January 15, 2009. The flight schedule will also change from January 15 once the flights switch to Heathrow. Muscat departure at 12:55 arrival London Heathrow 17:40, London Heathrow departure 21:30 arrival Muscat 09:00+1 (the next day) For more information visit www.omanair.aero.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways have announced a reduction in their fuel surcharges because of the falling price of oil. The reductions apply on tickets purchased beginning Thursday, and the airlines are not offering refunds to customers who booked flights earlier at the higher price. British Airways is reducing the charge on World Traveler (economy) class flights of nine …

Kari Stolbow, Director-Indian Subcontinent, of Finnair informed that despite the economic crisis, the airline’s plans for the Indian market for next year have not changed. Finnair will increase its flights between Helsinki and New Delhi to a daily service and Mumbai to six days a week. Finnair will also replace their existing Boeing MD-11 aircraft on the India with Airbus …

Budget carrier AirAsia is offering 100,000 free seats to/from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport, and Phuket in Thailand, to lure back foreign visitors after a siege of Bangkok’s airports by anti-government protesters. Seats in the “Mai Phen Rai Thailand” promotion are available for three days between Wednesday 17 December and Friday 19 December, and cover services from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, …

Thanks to a napping Air Traffic Control at Chandigarh airport, two aircraft, one from Jet Airways and another of Kingfisher Airlines, almost achieved a physical merger, one I am sure, their managements did not want, when they planned their recently formed alliance. TNN reports that two planes of Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, with a total 139 passengers on board, …

The Times of India reports that passengers were put to hardship at Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) and Bangalore city on Tuesday, as luxury cabs went on strike at the airport in protest against the suicide of a cab driver owing to alleged harassment by owners. All the close to 400 cabs, of Meru Cab and Easy Cab, were off services …

India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas has achieved a major milestone when its prototype landed at Leh air base in the high-altitude Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. “Tejas (LCA) programme reached a major milestone when the prototype vehicle PV-3 landed at Leh on December 13 this year at 1326 hours,” Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) officials said …

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is requiring that beginning January 12, 2009, eligible citizens or nationals from all Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to traveling to the United States under the VWP. Visit the ESTA website. The citizens or nationals of the following countries are currently eligible …

Singapore Airlines has issued a flight alert for its Christchurch Singapore services. Apparently Christchurch airport is currently providing only limited supplies of jet fuel to airlines as a result of a fuel supply problem. This problem is affecting all airlines operating from Christchurch. As a result, Singapore Airlines is unable to uplift sufficient fuel each day to allow for its …

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), in a meeting held recently in New Delhi, has asked domestic airlines to pass on the benefits of reduced jet fuel prices to passengers by reducing fares. According to a report in Economic Times (ET) today, MoCA has also instructed the airlines to review their security systems and verify the background of their employees in …

The Maytas-led consortium has taken a decision to put on hold its two Greenfield airport projects at Shimoga and Gulbarga in Karnataka due to the global recession. For now the projects are stalled and the partners will take the decision on it by end-2009, according to a report in Projects Today. In 2007, Maytas-led consortium – comprising Hyderabad-based Nagarjuna Construction …