National carrier Air India will receive a total of Rs.6,500 crore (about $1.08 billion) financial bail-out this year. The tax-payer funded bailout is part of a package exceeding Rs. 30,000 crore (about $6 billion at the time) approved in April 2012 and to be completed over nine years. In his maiden budget budget yesterday, the finance minister Arun Jaitley proposed …

A new Airbus A320-232SL (Sharklets) narrow body due for delivery to the yet to be named Tata-SIA airline joint venture took its first flight yesterday. MSN (manufacturer’s serial number) 6223 test registration F-WWDT due to be registered as VT-TTB when delivered, took to the skies at Toulouse Blagnac airport on 08:13am with a call-sign AIB01DT.

After completing the legal delivery last week to launch customer Air New Zealand, Boeing delivered the first 787-9 Dreamliner on July 9. Along with airline executives and guests, about 1,000 Boeing employees from the 787 program joined the milestone event. The first 787-9 is painted in a unique black livery. Most of the balance nine Dreamliners will be in a …

Even though it very rarely happens, everyone dreads the failure of an engine at take-off. After all this is the mode of the flight when engine power is required the most. What is not known to most passengers, every aircraft has to prove it can take-off with one engine failed. This is done via “abuse-take-offs” where engine power is intentionally …

This video by plane spotter AeroBarcelona of a near miss at Barcelona, Spain, El Prat airport between Russia’s UTAir Boeing 767-300 VQ-BSX performing flight UT5187 from Moscow and an Aerolíneas Argentinas Airbus A340-300 LV-FPV preparing for a flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 767 was on very short finals (200ft above ground level and 20 seconds) to land on runway …

Less than two months after announcing it was bringing in its ultra-modern Boeing 747-8i and just a week prior to commencing the service, German carrier Lufthansa has quietly shelved these plans. The carrier indicated it would instead plan on bringing its double-decker Airbus A380 super-jumbos to the commercial capital of the country soon. In an exclusive statement to Bangalore Aviation …

US airframer Boeing reported its deliveries for the second quarter (April to June) 2014. The manufacturer reported at 12.5% increase in its commercial aircraft deliveries driven by a 66% increase in deliveries of its newest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner, compared to the first quarter of this year. The narrow-body 737NG family also yielded gains. Defence programs maintained a level keel. …

Gurgaon based low fare carrier Spicejet is adding new flights the Hyderabad-Delhi, Hyderabad-Coimbatore, and Bangalore-Delhi routes. A limited time period flight has been added on Delhi-Hyderabad sector to meet seasonal demand. The airline will also introduce a second direct flight on the Hyderabad-Coimbatore route using the 78 seat Bombardier Q-400 Dash-8 turbo-prop. This will supplement the existing flights between the …

A little over 10 years after they ordered 10 of the aircraft, launch customer, Air New Zealand received contractual delivery of the first 787-9 Dreamliner from Boeing yesterday. The legal delivery marks the first formal acceptance by the airline of the new larger Dreamliner. The aircraft received its certification by the two major bodies, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) …

As Air India joins the world’s largest grouping of airlines, the Star Alliance, as its 27th member on July 11, 2014, there will be benefits that will be enjoyed by both the airline and passengers. The alliance currently has 26 member airlines from all continents, except Antarctica and carried 637.62 million passengers last year. African member airlines are: EgyptAir MS, …

After years of trying and suffering the ignominy of being the only airline whose membership process was suspended, national carrier Air India was approved for membership of the world’s largest airline grouping, the Star Alliance. The final integration processes by teams at Air India, the Star alliance and its member carriers will be completed so that the first Indian carrier …

Very simple ……. this. Unlike bricks and cobblestones, paver blocks are placed on a bed of sand without any concrete. So when some very smart people decided to test run the CFM56 engines of a Shaheen Air International Boeing 737-400 at Sialkot airport in Pakistan, the pavers turned in to barrage of debris damaging the aircraft. Thanks to the aircraft …

Just about two weeks ago, Dubai-based Emirates airline and European airframer Airbus S.A.S. announced the cancellation of the 70 aircraft A350 XWB order, 50 A350-900 and 20 A350-1000 citing outcomes “as a result of a fleet requirements review.” While the cancellation was downplayed by Airbus as “not good news commercially” but “not bad news financially”, it is most definitely a …

Twenty-nine years ago today, June 23, 1985, a air bombing that shook the world and introduced stringent security checks on checked-in luggage. Air India Boeing 747-237B c/n 21473 line 330, registration VT-EFO and named Emperor Kanishka was operating flight AI182 on the Montreal–London–Delhi route. In the early hours of the morning, as the aircraft approached Ireland at an altitude of …