Dubai based Emirates Airline has increased its industry leading Airbus 380 superjumbo firm order tally to a whopping 90, by ordering a further 32 A380s from Airbus. A380 firm orders now stand at 234 from 17 customers. The order has a list price of US$ 11.5 billion but significant discounts are quite common. (Click on image for a high res …

The first Boeing 747-8 Freighter has been painted in launch customer, Cargolux’s, new livery. This photo captured as the plane emerged from the paint shop shows the new livery which is an evolution from the current design. The red, white and blue stripes symbolize the company’s roots in Luxembourg, and features a distinctive new red tail with an additional logo …

Kingfisher Airlines has officially become a member elect of the oneworld® alliance after its Chairman Dr. Vijay Mallya signed a formal membership agreement with all 12 of existing partners and members elect of the alliance. Ahead of Kingfisher is Russia’s leading domestic carrier S7 Airlines which is expected to join the alliance later this year. Kingfisher Airlines will bring 56 …

Jet Airways has replaced its premium passengers lounge at London’s Heathrow airport Terminal 4. Previously Jet was using the Etihad Airways lounge but has now shifted to the one year old SkyTeam lounge opposite gate 10. The two-floor lounge includes features such as food and bar counters on both levels, a wine bar, wi-fi internet access, a meeting room, showers …

I was recently interviewed by Ramanand Sengupta on the Shiva statue affecting Delhi IGI airport’s newest Code F runway 11-29. We also covered subjects of security, safety, and what I would do if I was offered the job of Minister of Civil Aviation (what a delicious thought). You can read the full interview here.

Thanks to NYCAviation I found this video of a Korean Airlines Boeing 777-300ER doing a tippy-toe Bollywood gyrating landing at Tokyo’s Narita airport. Also do take the time to visit NYCAviation and see the video of a rather terse and snippy argument between an American Airlines flight and the ATC tower at New York JFK.

Seat Map.Singapore Airlines (SQ) has introduced a new cabin product on board its daily Boeing 777-200 service between Singapore and Bangalore which is probably the best cabin product ex-Bangalore by any airline in business class. Previously SQ used to fly a three class Boeing 777-200 in a dense 12-42-234 seat configuration. That product was not particularly liked by frequent business …

Ever since the unfortunate crash of Air India Express’ Boeing 737-800 VT-AXV at Mangalore Bajpe, I have been inundated by requests across the world to comment and even speculate about the crash and possible causes. Over the last few days we see all kinds of high energy stories in the media, be it speculating on reasons for the crash, or …

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued two urgent safety recommendations affecting General Electric CF6-45/50 engines. This engine is found mostly on cargo aircraft like Airbus A300s (now retired by Air India), Boeing 747s, DC-10s, MD-11s, and U.S. Air Force KC-10 tankers. However, there is a case involving a passenger Boeing 747-300 of Saudi Arabian Airlines. The …

The recent crash of the Air India Express Boeing 737-800 VT-AXV at Mangalore Bajpe airport continues to grab headlines. Numerous analytical reports can be found in the newspapers both national and regional. With the short-comings in the design of the runway at Mangalore, many reports are questioning the independence of the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation when it …

In early March, India’s only officially recognised plane spotting group Aviation Photographers India was approached by two students of Convergence Institute of Media Management (Commits), a media college in Bangalore to help them in producing of a Television news story type film for their college examination. Rohita Rambabu and Ketaki Ankalikar, students of the I year MA (Audiovisual Communication) course …

One of the latest Boeing 737-800 aircraft in low cost carrier Air India Express’ (AIX) fleet, VT-AXV, performing flight IX-812 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Mangalore Bajpe, India overshot the runway early this morning while attempting to land, and crashed at 06:10 local (00:40Z) into a wooded valley near Kenjar village about ten km NE of Mangalore airport. Initial …

This is good news for the members of the Aviation Photographers India. Gurgaon based value carrier is breaking new ground and sponsoring the first ever plane spotting photo contest in India. Winners will get free round-trip tickets on the SpiceJet network. The pictures can be uploaded to the SpiceJet Facebook page or sent via e-mail to spicejet.photos@gmail.com. Full details of …

At a glittering ceremony in Hamburg, Lufthansa has taken delivery of D-AIMA, the first of its 15 Airbus A380 superjumbos ordered. Due to production delays at airframe manufacturer Airbus S.A.S, only three more A380s will join the fleet in 2010. Lufthansa becomes the fifth airline after Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas and Air France, to introduce the A380 into service. The …

Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director is one of the few bureaucrats that receives praise from across the board, especially the private sector. His determined, no-nonsense, aggressive management style has earned him, both respect and angst. Anjuli Bhargava is another of those aviation journalists I have the highest respect for. We agree on almost all points of Indian aviation, most …

Bengaluru International Airport will shut down its single runway 09-27 on four nights in May to take-up urgently needed re-carpeting work. Authoritative sources at the airport, inform Bangalore Aviation, the runway will shut down from 23:30 to 05:30 the next morning (18:00 to 00:00 Z). The closures will commence on the nights of 9, 11, 16, and 18 May local. …

In 2005 both Boeing India chief Dinesh Keskar and Airbus India chief Kiran Rao had smiling faces. They had each locked in big orders. Air India had placed a mammoth order for 68 aircraft with Boeing which included 18 737-800, eight 777-200LR, 15 777-300ERs and 27 787-800 Dreamliners, while low cost carrier IndiGo placed an order for 100 Airbus A320-232. …

Last week Malaysia based low cost carrier AirAsia commenced its second phase of India expansion becoming the only carrier with flights between Chennai the capital of Tamil Nadu state in India, and the northern technology manufacturing centre of Penang in Malaysia. Apart from the scores of ethnic Tamil origin population on both sides, major electronics players like Dell, Flextronics, Foxcon, …