Another plane spotting quiz to tickle that grey matter. This is a picture taken by Aviation Photographers India Foundation member Vedant Agarwal. (See more of his photos here). Identify the twelve airlines and if possible the aircraft from left to right via a comment. Click on the image for a larger view.

Fog is the bane of New Delhi winters haunting air travellers every year like clockwork. All this despite the New Delhi Indira Gandhi international airport being the nation’s most technically advanced airport with Cat IIIB ILS equipped runways which permits landings in as low as 50 meters visibility. It is natural for the average traveller to wonder on these delays …

Click on the image for a larger view With the closure of the main runway 09-27 for re-carpeting at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, only the secondary runway 14-32 is available. This has caused a veritable traffic jam especially in the midday. Our flight had to wait 20 minutes just to push back, and I managed to take a wing …

Without a doubt the Airbus A320 family is queen of the night-time ramp at Bengaluru International Airport. The three major Indian operators of the A320, Air India, IndiGo and Kingfisher, station their aircraft at Bangalore for early morning operations commencing from Bangalore. Even on the international front, Airbus rules the roost with the A330 being operated by Air France, DragonAir, …

Qatar Airways has announced its intention to enter into a code share agreement with one of Brazil’s largest airlines, GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes with an aim to offer passengers of its Doha Sao Paulo flights connectivity to 47 destinations within the South American nation at a future date, yet to be determined. Both airlines have filed a joint application with …

Its a ritual of every winter. Heavy fog at Bangalore and Delhi causing flight delays and disrupting the trips of many. Hated by passengers, plane spotters and photographers love it. We get to see aircraft during the day which normally come only at night, when photographs cannot be taken, or in this case, we get to see an aircraft that …

Air travel is directly linked to economic activity, and it is globally recognised that the industry grows at roughly twice the GDP growth rate. Conversely, the industry shrinks twice as fast too. Across the world, the harsh economic conditions of the last two years forced the air travel industry to make their organisations leaner and meaner, and find ways to …

As 2011 dawns, our warmest wishes for your new year to be filled with joy, success, and prosperity. My deepest, sincerest and heart-felt thanks for your support and continuing patronage. Devesh Agarwal

An Egypt Air Boeing 737-800 registration SU-GCR performing flight MS-968 from Cairo, Egypt to Mumbai CSIA, India, with 121 passengers and 7 crew, was on approach to land. At 07:25 (01:55Z) the pilots declared a full emergency after receiving a fire warning in the cargo hold. The flight landed normally two minutes later and taxied to the gate. Passengers disembarked …

Plane photography is one of the most misunderstood hobbies in India. Take out a camera and point it at an aircraft, and you will invite suspicious views from people around you, including the security personnel. These suspicions are however misplaced due to a complete ignorance of the law, both by the general populace as well as security personnel. Just two …

Continuing with the trend of air cargo, this week’s picture is of the MD-11F freighter N524FE of global shipping giant FedEx Express. Click on the image for a larger view The MD-11 was the update to the venerable McDonnell Douglas DC-10. After a long career with many an airline, the last MD-11 passenger flight was performed on February 20, 2010 …

On the back of strong economic growth in the region, Bangalore has grown its passenger traffic 23% to 11.24 million for calendar 2010 surpassing Chennai to become the third largest airport in the country. For the last five years, Bangalore had been leading Chennai as the third largest in domestic passenger and freight traffic, but this year in May the …

India’s Ministry of Defence controlled Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Russia’s Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi signed a contract todday for the preliminary design of the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). The FGFA aircraft to be jointly developed is termed Perspective Multi-role Fighter (PMF). The PMF draws upon the basic structural and system design of the Russian FGFA Technology Demonstrator PAK-FA …

Buoyed by a backlog of over 250 orders, US airframe manufacturer Boeing has announced its production rate for the 777 program will increase to 8.3 airplanes per month in the first quarter 2013. Earlier in March this year, the company had already announced a production increase from five to seven airplanes per month beginning in mid-2011. The 777 has a …

The Indian Air Force (IAF) took delivery of the first of its stretched fuselage C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft from Lockheed Martin at a ceremony in Marietta, Georgia, USA. The Indian Air Force has ordered six C-130Js under a $1.2 billion order under the United States’ Foreign Military Sale program, in late 2008. This order was the first of several …

This week’s plane spotting photo comes from the tarmac at the Bengaluru International Airport. I was shocked at how fast the fog rolled in an obscured visibility. Click on image for a larger view. In the dead of night around 3am, Singapore Airlines Cargo Boeing 747-400F 9V-SFQ freighter was towed out to and started up on the taxiway (thanks to …

German carrier Lufthansa has unveiled a new cabin for its short and medium haul flights within Europe featuring the Recaro BL35xx slim-line seats which will provide the carrier both weight saving and increased seating capacity while still maintaining superior seating comfort and leg room. Click on image for a larger view The new Recaro seats are fitted with a special …

A special hooray for Indian civil aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation who has notified and incorporated two new rules in to the Indian Aircraft Rules, 1937 meant to control unruly, drunk and abusive passengers on board domestic flights and all international flights destined for India. Vide GSR 766(E) rules 22 and 23 have been added in to …

An unusual incident has resulted in the grounding of a new, front line, Airbus A319 aircraft of national carrier Air India, for almost three weeks in Bangalore which is conservatively expected to cost the airline more than Rs. 5 Crore ($1.2 million). A damaged VT-SCL sits on the ramp at Bengaluru International Airport. On November 27, 2010 at 00:05 IST …