Devesh Agarwal

A electronics and automotive product management, marketing and branding expert, he was awarded a silver medal at the Lockheed Martin innovation competition 2010. He is ranked 6th on Mashable's list of aviation pros on Twitter and in addition to Bangalore Aviation, he has contributed to leading publications like Aviation Week, Conde Nast Traveller India, The Economic Times, and The Mint (a Wall Street Journal content partner). He remains a frequent flier and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about the Indian aviation industry without fear or favour.

GVK exits Bangalore airport. To focus on Mumbai airports.

The main passenger terminal building at Bangalore Airport.

Debt burdened GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd will sell the last of its stake in Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), approximately ten per cent, to Fairfax India Holdings, for Rs. 1,290 crore (about $200 million). BIAL is the operator of the Kempegowda International Airport. In an announcement to the stock exchange the company said “This is to inform you that …

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Six more Indian airports to stop stamping hand-baggage tags from June 1

The PTI is reporting that six additional airports will scrap the hand-baggage tags and stamping from June 1. Chennai, Jaipur, Guwahati, Lucknow, Trivandrum, and Patna, will join New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Bengalooru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad which had scrapped this much despised process back on April 1. Quoting Mr O.P. Singh, the Director General of the Central Industrial Security Force …

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Jet Airways adds third Mumbai London Heathrow flight. Good USA connections.

Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER VT-JEG performing flight 9W117 from London approaches Mumbai airport

India’s largest private airline, Jet Airways has announced a third flight on the strategic Mumbai London Heathrow route, starting from the winter schedule which commences October 29th. Flight schedule 9W116 departs Mumbai at 09:05 and arrives London Heathrow 13:35. 9W115 departs London Heathrow at 15:30 and arrives Mumbai 05:55 the next morning. The flight will be operated by a three …

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IndiGo to launch Bangalore Singapore on June 30, with great fares

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

India’s largest domestic airline and low cost carrier IndiGo will launch its Bangalore Singapore direct non-stop flight on June 30th. This will be the second international flight for the carrier originating from Bangalore. It operates a flight to Dubai. The Singapore flight comes close on the heels of full service carrier Jet Airways successfully commencing flights on the Bangalore Singapore …

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Spicejet first to use Bangalore airport’s new electronic boarding gate

Spicejet Boeing 737-800WL VT-SGK at New Delhi airport.

Gurugram based low fare carrier SpiceJet is the first airline to use the new electronic board gates at the Kempegowda airport in Bangalore. Spicejet’s departure control system is integrated with the e-Gates and allows passengers to board by self scanning their boarding passes, whether on paper, mobile, or smart watches. The system verifies the pass, and opens the gate is …

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Boeing delivers first 737 MAX to Malindo Air of Malaysia

First Boeing 737 MAX 8 delivered to Malindo Air. Boeing image.

US airframer Boeing, delivered the first new 737 MAX aircraft to launch customer Malindo Air of Malaysia. The 737 MAX 8 was delivered at Boeing’s Seattle Delivery Center in Washington state on May 16th. The airline will be the first to operate the 737 MAX in commercial service on May 22. The MAX is the newest variant of the world’s …

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Etihad speeds James Hogan’s exit. Ray Gammell is interim Group CEO

Etihad Airways Airbus A320 A6-EIC at Kempegowda Airport, Bangalore

Ray Gammell has assumed full management responsibilities as the new interim Group CEO of The Etihad Aviation Group (EAG). Current President and Group CEO James Hogan, will formally leave the company on July 1, 2017. Gammell was the Group’s Chief People & Performance Officer. In parallel Ricky Thirion the current SVP Group Treasurer, takes over full responsibilities of the Group …

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Jet expands Virgin Atlantic, Delta code-share for USA via London Heathrow

Jet Airways has expanded its code share with Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic to offer its passengers connections via London Heathrow to nine US destinations operated by Virgin Atlantic. These include Atlanta, Boston, Newark, Washington Dulles, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco. Seattle will be the ninth city when Virgin Atlantic commences services on May 1. Frequent …

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Lufthansa upgrades both India Munich routes to newest gen Airbus A350-900

Lufthansa A350-900. Image courtesy airline.

German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa has commenced operations on the Mumbai Munich route using the newest aircraft in the world today, the Airbus A350-900 XWB (Xtra Wide Body). With this, Lufthansa is operating the modern airliner on both its India routes. It had commenced A350-900 operations on the Munich New Delhi Munich route in February. Munich is the primary hub …

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Emirates and Royal Jordanian troll United Airlines post off-loading fiasco

United Airline’s now infamous slogan “Fly the friendly skies” is under attack on the social media world after its fiasco over the forcible removal of a doctor from flight 3411 last week. The doctor was injured when police attempted to forcibly eject him after the airline ran short of seats and needed them for their off-duty flight crew. Two middle-east …

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Air India to launch New Delhi Washington DC non-stop in July

Air India Boeing 777-200LR VT-ALE at New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal

National carrier Air India will operate a non-stop ‘capital’s flight‘ between New Delhi and Washington DC Dulles (IAD) starting from July 7th. The thrice-weekly flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft in a three class configuration with eight first, 35 business and 195 economy class seats. Washington Dulles will be the airline’s fifth non-stop destination in the United …

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Emirates’ Jennifer Aniston video cocks a snook at the US and UK electronics ban

Jennifer Aniston stars in an Emirates' TV commercial

Less than a day after the United States imposed a ban on carriage of large electronics devices in the cabin, Dubai based Emirates airline has released a video advertisement which thumbs it nose at the ban. Titled “Let us entertain you“, the ad is a clipping of the famous 2016 television commercial (TVC) featuring Hollywood superstar Jennifer Aniston. This short …

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UK follows USA, imposes ban on large electronic devices

As expected, the United Kingdom has followed the United States, and imposed its own ban on electronic devices from being carried in cabin baggage. In a written statement to Parliament, British Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said “phones, laptops and tablets larger than 16.0cm x 9.3cm x 1.5cm [are] not allowed in the cabin on flights to the UK from Turkey, …

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US bans electronic devices on flights from Middle East and North Africa

Citing potential security threats and extremists seeking “innovative methods” to bring down flights, the United States has indefinitely banned virtually every electronic device from the cabin baggage of passengers flying on nine middle-eastern and north-African airlines or from 10 airports in the region, destined to the US. Domestic flights within, and international flights from, the US are exempt from these …

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Etihad shifts A380 from Mumbai to Paris. Messes up my travel plans.

Etihad A380. Airline image.

Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways appears to be withdrawing its flagship A380 superjumbo service from Mumbai and shifting it on the Abu Dhabi Paris route this summer from July 1. The A380 will operate on one of its twice-daily services to Paris and replace the Boeing 777 the airline currently flies. The Mumbai route will be replaced with an Airbus …

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Vistara signs code-share agreement with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir

Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara (seated right) and Leonard Louis Arul, Vice President – Partnerships & International Relations, Singapore Airlines (seated left), signed the Codeshare Agreement in Gurugram, India, in the presence of Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara (centre). Accompanying them are Vistara cabin crew Purnima Sharma (left) and Shivangi Singh (right).

The Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture, Vistaa, has entered in to a code-share agreement with the island nation’s flag carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the latter’s regional subsidiary SilkAir. Under the agreement, Singapore Airlines will place its ‘SQ’ airline designator code on to Vistara-operated flights beyond Mumbai and New Delhi to 10 destinations within India. Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, …

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DGCA brief details issues with the PW1100 GTF engine on the A320neo

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITC. Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1127 Geared Turbo Fan engine. Copyrighted image. Re-use prohibited.

A brief submitted to aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirms Bangalore Aviation’s earlier analysis on the ongoing challenges with the Pratt & Whitney PW1100 G-JM Geared Turbo Fan (GTF) engines which power the Airbus A320NEOs of Lufthansa, IndiGo and Go Airlines. Problems with PW1000G GTF engine The brief, which was reviewed by Bangalore Aviation, traces problems to …

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Analysis: Why has Air Costa halted operations?

Air Costa Embraer E170 VT-LNR at Bangalore.

[bsu_note note_color=”#affbcd” text_color=”#070707″ radius=”4″]This analysis is jointly written by (an) external aviation professional(s) and Bangalore Aviation team. The views expressed may not fully reflect those of Bangalore Aviation. The analyst(s) remain anonymous as they are not authorised to place their views publicly.[/bsu_note] Media reports inform that regional carrier AirCosta has halted operations due to a cash crunch. The aircraft lessor …

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Lufthansa to operate its new Airbus A350 on Mumbai Munich route

Lufthansa A350-900. Image courtesy airline.

German carrier Lufthansa will up-guage its Munich Mumbai route to its state-of-the-art Airbus A350-900 aircraft from April 16, 2017 onwards. The route is currently operated by an Airbus A330-300. The A350 is the newest plane from Airbus, and like its competitor, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, features extensive use of composite materials thus allowing greater pressurisation and humidity for reduced post-flight …

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Video: Making the Air India A320neo. India has maximum neo operators.

Air India Airbus A320neo (A320-251N) VT-EXF

Yesterday, national carrier Air India took delivery of its first Airbus A320neo, VT-EXF. The aircraft is financed by Kuwait’s ALAFCO. The delivery signifies the first CFM powered A320neo in India. Unlike IndiGo and Go Air who chose the Pratt and Whitney PW110G GTF, Air India opted for the CFM LEAP engine. The delivery also puts India in the lead with …

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