This is one of the finest airplane spotting photos I have ever taken. The first Airbus A330-200 of Kingfisher Airlines VT-VJK in it’s beautiful red and white livery against the blue spring skies approaching Bengaluru International Airport. Sadly this is a sight we cannot expect to see in Bangalore for the foreseeable future. In a re-structuring of it’s international operations …

Building on existing code share and interline arrangements, Indian state owned Air India has expanded its partnership with Singapore Airlines, by entering into an Frequent Flying Passenger (FFP) agreement, where frequent flyer programme members of both airlines will now be able to earn and redeem mileage points on flights operated by each other. Members of Air India’s Flying Returns programme …

Jet Airways and it’s no frills service Jet Airways Konnect, is offering passengers a monster 50% discount in economy class and 33% discount on it’s Jet Premiere business class fares. The discount includes the fuel surcharge component of the fare, so the discount does have significance. The sale of these special fares will be between September 14 and 16, 2009. …

The first Lufthansa A380 aircraft rolled out the final assembly hangar in Toulouse on September 7th, 2009. A380-841 Manufacturer Serial Number MSN038 which is currently registered as F-WWSH will eventually be registered as D-AIMA when it is delivered to Lufthansa next year. External ground tests are being carried out before preparation activities for the first flight. In a few weeks, …

A good way to end the week on a humorous note. Thanks to a comedy of errors due to a double goof-up by both passengers and airline Air India Express, four passengers from Bangladesh landed up in countries and cities far away from their destinations. Air India’s low fare subsidiary Air India Express operates a flight from the Bangladeshi capital …

A Jetlite Boeing 737-800, VT-SIJ peforming flight S2-703 from Mumbai to Kolkata with 141 passengers and 6 crew, suffered a tail strike. Tail strikes are not uncommon in longer aircraft, and the Boeing 737-800 features a tail skid plate to protect against structural damage as seen in this picture of a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800. Some newer 737s even have …

On 09-09-09 JetPhotos accepted my 100th photo. On a rainy cloudy evening of August 14th the day before India’s independence day, two F/A-18’s arrived for the trials and evaluation of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) upcoming Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft procurement. The other US contender is from my neighbourhood in my home county of Tarrant the Lockheed Martin F-16IN …

An Aeromexico Boeing 737 performing flight 576 from the Mexican resort of Cancun has been hijacked and flown to Mexico City, as per news media quoting Mexican officials say. Transport Minister Juan Molinar told Mexican radio the jet had landed safely at Mexico City’s international airport. Local media reported seeing passengers leaving the plane and boarding buses but the numbers …

09-09-09 at 09:09 (9:09AM) Today is a moment in the calendar to enjoy.

Over 40% of the 760 national pilots at India’s second largest airline, Jet Airways, have reported sick today causing widespread disruptions of flights and frayed tempers at airports across India. Since 22:00 (10pm) IST last night, a total of 163 captains and 198 first officers, reported sick leading to cancellation or disruption of over 186 flights – 154 domestic and …

Television news media coverage of aircraft incidents and accidents in India is normally incomplete and poor at best, liberally dosed with sensationalism that would make a Bollywood scriptwriter proud. The recent fuel leak and fire incident involving Air India Boeing 747-437 VT-ESM at Mumbai airport brought out the worst of India’s still nascent private television news channels. The real version …

Two close-ups of Airbus A320-232 nose gear assemblies of VT-INS and VT-IND. Click on the image for a high resolution view. Thanks to IndiGo airlines. The images are my copyright.

RIM appears to have released v 1.0.0 (Build 75) of the Blackberry Desktop for Mac. Before downloading I suggest you read this article at the San Francisco Chronicle. For more detail on RIM’s new BlackBerry software for Mac, including differences between the Mac and PC version, read “Four Things You Didn’t Know About BlackBerry Desktop Software for Mac“. Grab your …

Events of the week have over-taken me and left me with no time to post the return leg story of my Guwahati and Kolkata trip. My apologies. The return flights were smooth but reasonably eventful in other ways. Despite leaving well ahead of time, I got stuck in a traffic jam and barely made it to the airport, thanks to …

One of the most intense searches in Indian aviation history came to a sad end this morning. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, his special secretary P Subramaniam, chief security officer A S C Wesley, pilots Group Capt S K Bhatia and Capt M S Reddy were found dead in the mangled and charred remains of his Bell …

By improving its operational efficiencies, New Delhi based value carrier SpiceJet has introduced four new flights from Mumbai and Bangalore into Dabolim airport serving the state of Goa, one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. SpiceJet has taken its daily departures up from 125 to 129 to capitalise on the upcoming festival and new year season when tourist …

Air India’s latest Boeing 777-300ER VT-ALQ named after the North Eastern state of Manipur was captured by Rick Schlamp as it took off from Boeing Paine field to New Delhi on its delivery flight yesterday. Click on image for a larger view. All rights reserved by Rick Schlamp.

An Indigo Airbus A320-232, VT-INX performing flight 6E-122 from Bangalore to New Delhi with 99 passengers and 6 crew on board, was en-route near Hyderabad, when an engine fire alert activated. The crew decided to divert to Hyderabad, where the airplane landed safely at 18:20. My file photo of VT-INX. Click on image for a larger view. The flight and …

On 27th August I took my first flight to Kolkata in my life. Even I was surprised that I had never been to one India’s largest cities in all my 45 years. My thanks to The Telegraph newspaper who invited me to speak on innovation at the Northeast ICT summit in Guwahati, Assam and making the trip possible. The day …

Dallas-Fort Worth based American Airlines is following the lead of it’s oneworld partner British Airways and reducing the free baggage allowance on it’s international flights. Most economy class passengers traveling by American Airlines (AA) between locations in Europe, India and the US will soon have to pay $50 (Rs 2,450) to check-in a second bag under a revised baggage policy …