Call it a sheer coincidence, but despite my frequent travels, I had never flown the Airbus A380 till October 14, 2014. Given my years of loyal patronage of Singapore Airlines, divine providence ensured my first A380 flight would be with the island nation’s carrier who was the launch customer of the A380, and coincidentally on the first A380 delivered in …
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Bangalore Aviation had covered the launch of the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture, Vistara, on January 9, 2015. We reviewed the premium economy class at that time. I was looking for an opportunity to experience Vistara’s business class and it came on March 1, 2015. READ ONLINE: Review of Vistara premium economy class I was invited by Vistara to experience the …
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Fellow aviation geeks alert. Budget carrier SpiceJet is selling special limited edition scale models of its Boeing 737-800 VT-SZK, something sure to be of interest to dedicated model collectors like me. This is the first time I have seen an Indian airline selling these high quality models. VT-SZK is Red Chilli the airline’s flagship aircraft wearing the special ‘with all …
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AirAsia India has painted its fourth Airbus A320 aircraft with a special livery in homage to JRD Tata, considered the father of Indian civil aviation in the Indian sub-continent. The aircraft bears the registration VT-JRT (Jehangir Ratanji (Dadabhoy) Tata) and has been named ‘The Pioneer’. The livery feature a portrait of JRD Tata with the Puss Moth, the aircraft he …
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For over 25 years, the venerable ‘Queen of the skies’ the Boeing 747-400, of the national carrier, Air India, has served as India’s VIP (very important person) international transport. Tagged as ‘Air India One’ two of these aircraft are used by the President, the Vice President, and the Prime Minister of India on their international trips, even if to neighbouring …
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The GVK promoted Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (KIAB) has won the ‘Best Regional Airport in Central Asia’ award by SKYTRAX World Airport Awards 2015, which were held in Paris on 11th March. The SKYTRAX World Airport Awards is the largest passenger satisfaction survey measured across 39 key performance indicators in airport service excellence and quality. The World Airport Awards are …
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The Tata-Singapore Airlines promoted Vistara will acquire GoAir sources within the airline say. The Wadia group promoted airline is struggling after CEO Giorgio De Roni was reportedly taken ill, earlier this year, and is convalescing in Italy. Sources indicate, De Roni is not expected to return. De Roni is credited with making the GoAir profitable after the initial management had …
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Almost nine months after national carrier Air India joined the global airline grouping Star Alliance, it has painted one of its flagship Boeing 777-300ERs VT-ALJ Bihar is the special Alliance livery. This photograph from our contributor Prathamesh Kini at Mumbai. Contributors also report, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Charleston, South Carolina is also being prepared in the special Star livery. …
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New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi international airport (IGIA) has been ranked as world’s best airport for the year 2014, in the airport service quality (ASQ) awards of Airports Council International, in the 25 to 40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) size category. The ASQ awards survey covers 34 key service areas including major categories such as access, check-in, security, airport facilities, …
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by Ameya Joshi Jet Airways, India’s largest private airline reported its third quarter fiscal year 2014-15 (FY2015) results on February 6, 2015, reporting a wafer thin operating profit after seven consecutive quarters. The airline moved to full service operations in December 2014 and the quarter reflected a mix of full service and low cost operations. Wafer thin profits The airline …
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It is like a non-stop litany. Another Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has been grounded. This time VT-ANK is AOG (aircraft on ground) since February 6, 2015, 10 days ago when it last operated flight AI-113 from New Delhi to Birmingham, UK. As per sources, the grounding was caused due to a fault in the C duct of the engine …
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One of the most regressive pieces of Indian civil aviation policy, the ‘5/20 rule‘ requires Indian carriers to fly for a minimum of five years and have a fleet of 20 aircraft before they can operate overseas routes, while allowing foreign carriers to operate to India, unhindered by any such norms. With implications on competitiveness, airline networks and aircraft utilisation, …
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The Kempegowda International Airport at Bengaluru will be partially closing airport operations starting today due to upcoming Aero India 2015 air show to be held at the adjacent Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka. Bangalore airport closure timings Dates KIA airport closure timing in IST (UTC +5.5) Purpose February 10th to 16th, 2015 12:30 – 15:00 (12:30pm – 3:00pm) Practice Day …
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Last month the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Safety Alert For Operators (SAFO) advising airlines about potential fire risks from e-cigarettes which use lithium batteries to heat nicotine in to a vapour inhaled by users. The SAFO issued after two instances of fire caused by e-cigarettes, called for banning of these popular devices from checked-in baggage. Though …
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Original story TransAsia airlines has suffered the crash of another ATR72. This time an ATR72-600 with 58 persons on board, registration B22816 performing flight GE235, from the capital Taipei’s Song Shan airport to Kinmen island, around 11:00 local (03:00Z) appeared to lose altitude and hit an elevated bridge soon after take off, and crashed in to the Keelung river. The …
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Singapore Airlines has finally unveiled its previously announced premium economy class, and has opened up selected routes for sale which will commence operations on August 9, 2015, the island nation’s 50th independence anniversary, on the Singapore Sydney route. Singapore Airlines will invest $80 million to install the new class on 19 Airbus A380s, 19 Boeing 777-300ERs (B77Ws) and the first …
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In a bold move national carrier Air India has put errant employees and vendors who delay flights on notice. The airline will deduct salaries of employees and caterers found responsible for delays of flights. The Maharaja which has one of the worst one-time performance (OTP) records amongst Indian carriers, has been instructed by the top bureaucrat in the civil aviation …
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The EU regulator European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a Safety Information Bulletin (SIB) No. 2015-02 warning all national aviation authorities and aircraft operators of “an increased risk to flight operation safety due to potential terrorist attacks in Pakistan” The bulletin goes on to state “The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) recommends all operators to exercise extreme caution if …
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A SpiceJet spokesperson has confirmed that its year old passenger inter-line agreement with Singapore based low cost carrier TigerAir has been “terminated based on mutual decision [since SpiceJet’s] network changes made it no longer commercially worth doing.” As per reports in The Business Standard and The Economic Times, Tiger had terminated the agreement due to SpiceJet’s “non-performance”. The financially troubled …
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It appears that Air India’s troublesome Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner VT-ANI has finally completed its repairs and retrofits and is getting ready for flight. From a supporter of Bangalore Aviation comes this photo taken at Mumbai airport on India’s Republic Day, January 26, 2015. A hat-tip to the boss. Readers will recall, since April 2014, nine months ago, Air India’s Boeing …
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