Over the last 15 days, Kingfisher Airlines has been savaged in the media (read articles here and here) based on a research report by analyst Neeraj Monga of Veritas Investment Research Corporation of Canada, which casts doubts on the airline’s viability. A report earlier today, in The Mint newspaper appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. The …

Yes, it is three years late, but finally, the tires have been kicked, ANA’s team from the ground to the flight crews have checked out the plane, and the payment has been made. Boeing and launch operator All Nippon Airways (ANA), have signed the formal documents completing the contractual delivery of the first 787 Dreamliner ZA101, registration (tail) number JA801A. …

A Beechcraft 1900D belonging to Kathmandu, Nepal based Buddha Air crashed while attempting to land, in dense fog, near the national capital Kathmandu earlier this morning. The plane with 16 passengers and three crew was on a flight from the capital to view Mount Everest and crashed on its return around Bisankunarayan village, just a few kilometres south of Kathmandu. …

The team of Vinay Bhaskara, Addison Schonland and Devesh Agarwal bring you another edition of the India aviation review podcast. In this edition we feature the dilemma faced by a bankrupt Air India and its 27 787 Dreamliner order. There is no doubt that the airline needs a good mid-sized aircraft, but it is out of money. Is the national …

by Devesh Agarwal A little over two years ago, Boeing showed mock-ups of a new cabin interior for their 737NG series aircraft. The “Sky Interior” utilises inputs from the Boeing 777 and 787 Dreamliner to improve the passenger experience. (To see photos please ready this related story) Last week, Jet Airways took delivery of its newest Boeing 737-800 VT-JBU, and …

Indian low fare carrier SpiceJet commenced the first Indian commercial operations of a Bombardier DH4 Q400 turbo-prop yesterday. Here are two pictures on the 78 seat interior of the aircraft and its state of the art “glass cockpit”. You will observe, that unlike other turbo-props, the Q400 features large overhead baggage compartments.

The world’s best airline, Singapore Airlines will be effecting a significant change in its scheduled operations at Mumbai starting from the Winter 2011 schedule which goes in to effect on October 30th. The carrier is also strengthening the operations of its regional subsidiary SilkAir across India. MumbaiCurrently the carrier operates double daily flights between the financial capital of India and …

Noted TV personality Karan Thapar grills former civil aviation minister Mr. Praful Patel in this interview on CNBC-TV18. Mr. Praful Patel is known to be a smooth operator. One might even call him the “Teflon Minister”. It is interesting to see Mr. Patel squirming, trying not to answer directly and trying to divert the what he wants to say, and …

-RyanAir considers its passengers as “self-loading freight”by Devesh Agarwal “While 80% is common, there is no single LCC model that is used across the world”. These were the thoughts expressed by SpiceJet’s Chief Executive Officer Neil Mills in a relaxed and free spirited conversation with Bangalore Aviation’s Devesh Agarwal, enroute to Niagara Falls immediately after taking delivery of the new …

On the eve of delivering the first Q400 NextGen turbo-prop passenger aircraft to Indian low cost carrier SpiceJet at Toronto Downsview airport, Bombardier gave a product briefing to the visiting journalists including Bangalore Aviation. The first two aircraft VT-SUA and VT-SUB which departed last Friday arrived at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) just as I was boarding my …

SpiceJet’s first Bombardier Q400 VT-SUA named Saunf flew past the delivery hangar on her ferry flight to New Delhi. She came up very quickly as we were rushed out from the hangar in which the delivery ceremony was being conducted. So apologies for a shaky and rushed video I flew a Porter Airlines Q400 between Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport and …

At a simple ceremony at Downsview Airport in Toronto, Canada on Friday 26th August, Indian low cost carrier SpiceJet took delivery of the first four Bombardier Q400 NextGen turbo-prop aircraft. SpiceJet has ordered 15 aircraft. The first aircraft VT-SUA named Saunf left on its ferry flight to India immediately after the ceremony. In fact the formal delivery ceremony was conducted …

Indian low fare carrier Spicejet will take delivery of its first Bombardier Q400 next gen turbo-prop aircraft this Friday at Downsview Airport, Toronto, Canada. SpiceJet, late last year, ordered 15 of these advanced regional turbo-prop aircraft with an option for 15 more. The airline has already announced a strong regional route network from its first Q400 base at Hyderabad, which …

India has three airline groups which are listed on the stock market and therefore regularly release information on their quarterly and annual financial and operating performance. Jet Airways group comprising of full service carrier Jet Airways and its low cost subsidiary JetLite, (the low fare service Jet Airways Konnect’s numbers are rolled in to those of Jet Airways), fellow full …

I am pleased to inform you that we have a new additional contributor to Bangalore Aviation — Vinay Bhaskara. Vinay is an aviation analyst and history buff based in New Jersey, United States and will bring a more global view of Asian aviation to Bangalore Aviation. Vinay does the monthly Asian aviation podcast along with Innovation Analysis Group (IAG) and …

Another edition of the Asian air scene podcast featuring Addison Schonland, Vinay Bhaskara and Devesh Agarwal. We covered the share swap between AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines and what benefits would it offer and what would it take away. In the India scene we covered the suspension of the application of national carrier Air India and the reported fait accompli presented …

India’s national carrier Air India has achieved a rather dubious first — the Star Alliance network of airlines, has suspended Air India’s membership application indefinitely — the first time it has done for any applicant airline. In a diplomatically worded release, the network says The member airlines of the Star Alliance network and Air India have jointly concluded that the …

Earlier this morning I had the opportunity to record a podcast on the state of Indian airline market along with IAG’s Addison Schonland and The Gate at FlyerTalk author Vinay Bhaskara. Amongst the topics covered — the mess called Air India, and the mega A320neo order by IndiGo. We hope to make this podcast a monthly affair.

After the announcement, yesterday, of the massive order by American Airlines to Airbus and Boeing, I took some time to read the analyses and views, of some of the people for whom I have high respect, especially when it comes to field of aviation. Addison Schonland of Innovation Analysis Group (IAG) highlights the monopolisation of production slots by the early …