Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation
That Indian politicians and their cohorts make unreasonable demands of the national carrier Air India is a well known fact. But now, it appears this disease is afflicting the common passenger as well. Last week some of the 50 passengers on board Air India’s flight AI-433, a 250km 20 minute hop from Gaya to Varanasi, went on a rampage clashing …
Read More »Devesh Agarwal
Mumbai airport’s new terminal T2 commences international operations today
Following its inauguration in January, the new 4.4 million square feet integrated Terminal 2 (T2) at Mumabi’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), will commence international operations today. The transition of all international flights from the existing terminal to the new T2 will begin with the arrival of Air India’s flight from Singapore AI343 scheduled at 1300 hours. The first departing flight …
Read More »Jet posts Rs. 267.89 crore loss in third quarter FY2014. 40% due to idle aircraft.
India’s largest private airline, Jet Airways group, has reported its fourth successive loss, this time of Rs. 267.89 crore in the third quarter of fiscal 2013~2014, which ended December 31, 2013. The airline made a meagre profit of Rs. 0.85 crore exactly a year ago in the third quarter of fiscal 2012~2013. While this is in line with what analysts …
Read More »SpiceJet appoints Tigerair’s Kaneswaran Avili as chief commercial officer
Gurgaon head-quartered low fare carrier SpiceJet Ltd today announced the appointment of Mr. Kaneswaran Avili (“Kanesh”) as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). Kanesh will take charge effective April 1. He has worked for 12 years in the highly competitive world of low cost airlines in Asia, and was part of the start up team of AirAsia in 2001. Avili played …
Read More »Silkair commences conversion to all Boeing 737 fleet
Singapore Airline’s full service regional subsidiary SilkAir has commenced on its transition from an all Airbus A319 and A320 fleet to an all Boeing 737 fleet. The airline took delivery of its first Next-Generation 737-800. Over the coming years, Boeing will deliver a total of 23 737-800s and 31 737 MAX 8s to SilkAir. SilkAir’s new 737 will enter service …
Read More »Wolfgang Will succeeds Alex Hilgers as Lufthansa’s Director for India
German carrier Lufthansa has appointed Wolfgang Will as its new Director India, effective 1 February 2014. Based in Gurgaon, Mr Will shall be responsible for overseeing the airline’s commercial activities in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He succeeds Axel Hilgers, who moves to Paris as head of Lufthansa ground operations for France, after an almost five year stint in India. …
Read More »Analysis: Which airlines will fly their A380s to India?
Last week, the Indian aviation community was abuzz with the news that the government had finally permitted operations of the Airbus A380 in to India. In its announcement, the ministry mentioned Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Emirates as potential candidates in operating the aircraft to India, but there are seven other operators of the giant, all of whom, with the exception …
Read More »US airlines and pilots sue US Exim bank to stop Air India loan guarantees
Claiming unfair advantage being giving to foreign carriers, Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest, along with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) which represents 47,000 pilots working for 28 U.S. commercial airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines, have sued the Export-Import Bank of the United States for providing cheap financing in the form of $1.3 billion in loan guarantees and …
Read More »Photos: Boeing celebrates Seattle Seahawks with special livery 747-8 freighter
The Boeing company which has a major presence in the Seattle, Washington, USA area, is a supporter of the home NFL football team, the Seattle Seahawks, who beat the Denver Broncos in the championship Superbowl game, held yesterday. To celebrate the Seahawks, and their “12th player”, the team’s fans, Boeing painted one of its 747-8F N770BA in a special livery. …
Read More »Will Jet passengers skip lines at US airports with Abu Dhabi pre-clearance facility?
Two weeks ago, Etihad and Jet Airways announced flights from Abu Dhabi to New York, initially operated by Etihad, and then by Jet. Last week saw Jet announcing a whole lot of flights between various Indian cities and Abu Dhabi, the latest from Bangalore and Hyderabad which will commence from March 1. All of these flights are scheduled to connect …
Read More »Video: Government demands VIP culture at private airlines
That the government of India abuses its “Netjets” – Air India is a fact well known. Members of Parliament (MP), along with their “families”, “assistants”, and other hangers-on are provided all kinds of personalised treatment right from the kerb from where the MP is personally escorted, priority check-in, no security-screening, free snacks, free lounge access, some even want a golf …
Read More »India finally permits Airbus A380 operations
The government of India has finally cleared the runways for the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380 superjumbo, to operate to India. In a statement the civil aviation ministry says, The Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Ajit Singh has decided to remove restrictions on flights of Airbus A-380 to India. Now, flights of A-380 to India will be …
Read More »Air France – KLM Delta offer special Republic Day sale in business class to USA and Canada
Air France KLM and its SkyTeam alliance partner Delta Air Lines have announced a special “Republic Day Offer” for travel from India to the North Atlantic. The airlines are offering a flat discount of Rs. 26,000 for all bookings made and ticketing from January 23 through 27, 2014. To avail this offer, customers can choose to book tickets online at …
Read More »Jet Airways joins air fare wars, offers 50% discount on Jet Konnect
Just when we praised Jet Airways, India’s second largest domestic airline, for not joining the self-destroying frenzy of 50 percent discount on air fares, the airline has joined the fare war frenzy first kicked off by low-fare carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday, and followed by all the other airlines now IndiGo, GoAir, Air India, and now Jet Konnect. The Naresh Goyal …
Read More »Opinion: Air India’s Star alliance membership is a precursor to Tata-SIA entry
During his visit to India, Mark Schwab the CEO of the Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline grouping, announced that national carrier Air India could join the alliance within the next six months. In a press interaction Schwab said “without giving a specific date, one can say that we will complete all the ground work and formalities of Air India’s …
Read More »ATR increases turnover 13% to retain regional aircraft leadership
The Toulouse based regional aircraft manufacturer ATR, a joint venture between the Airbus Group and Alenia Aermacchi (a Finmeccanica Group company), grew its revenues 13 percent in 2013 to $1.63 billion from $1.44 billion in 2012. The company also increased deliveries by 16 percent to 74 aircraft in 2013 compared to 64 in 2012 and up 37 percent from the …
Read More »Low fare sale. Indian airlines eat their young to survive
The stampede of cut-throat fares, which commenced Tuesday, when low fare carrier SpiceJet announced up to a 50 percent discount for 30 and 60 day advance purchase fares is reminiscent of 2008 when airlines went berserk on pricing in a mad rush for growth. This time too, almost every carrier including full service Air India, has joined this madness. Credit …
Read More »Quiz answers – spot the inconsistencies in the Mumbai airport T2 image
Last week, purely as a fun story, we posted a computer generated image of Mumbai airport’s new Terminal 2 and asked you to spot some inconsistencies. Time for the answers and for you to compare your observations with your fellow readers. Going clockwise from the bottom left. The graphic designer forgot that there are no traffic signals in the middle …
Read More »Jet Airways announces Mumbai Paris flight
Jet Airways has announced a daily direct service between Mumbai and Paris to commence on May 14, 2014. 9W 124 will depart Mumbai 12:00 and arrive at Paris Charles de Gaulle at 17:50. 9W 123 will depart Paris CDG at 21:10 and arrive Mumbai at 09:45 the following morning. Jet Airways is targeting day time connections its domestic network. While …
Read More »IndiGo strengthens Pune presence
India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, has strengthened its presence in the industrial town of Pune, with the arrival of its 73rd Airbus A320 aircraft. Highlighting the growing economic strength of the city which has seen air traffic double in the last five years, despite a severely constrained airport, IndiGo announced new flights connecting Pune non-stop with Kolkata and additional non-stops …
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