Bangalore Aviation News, Reviews, Analysis and opinions of Indian Aviation
Last the week the newswires were abuzz with stories about Indian budget carrier SpiceJet ordering up to 40 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. While the ordering of the new fuel efficient MAXs is a foregone conclusion, given the airline’s need to continue its growth, the timing is not certain. What is certain is the airline’s precarious financial position. For the second …
Read More »Air India now accepts American Express credit cards for online bookings
Air India has started accepting American Express credit cards for payment of on-line bookings made on its website, for journeys originating from USA, UK, Europe, Japan and Singapore. The airline till now was accepting only Visa and MasterCard. American Express is a popular credit card, especially in the United States and offers card-holders significant privileges compared to most other credit …
Read More »Air India’s abysmal performance, 256 seat 787 flying with just 50 passengers
While the establishment in both the civil aviation ministry and national carrier Air India continue to blow sunshine in our faces, and was eloquent about the “great recovery” by the airline, a story in The Hindustan Times newspaper shows how abysmal is the airline’s actual performance. The story headlines “Crew shortage holds up AI flight at Frankfurt” but the actual …
Read More »Emirates to withdraw free chauffeur transfer service in Hong Kong
[bsu_pullquote align=”right”] “Chauffeur-drive service will be offered to passengers for flights until 28th February 2014.” – Emirates website[/bsu_pullquote] In a quiet update to its website, Dubai-based Emirates is withdrawing its free chauffeur transfer service for all first and business class passengers in Hong Kong after February 28, 2014. The carrier has been slowly curtailing chauffeur services at other cities as …
Read More »Air France launches 2014 edition of Manish Arora Facebook contest for fashion designers
Buoyed by its previous success Air France is launching its Facebook contest along with world famous Indian fashion designer Manish Arora, for aspiring fashion designers to showcase their talent. To participate in this month long contest, contestants will have to upload pictures of their fashion creations along with a short write up on Air France Facebook page. The contestants can …
Read More »Video: Etihad to fly to Dallas-Fort Worth
Abu Dhabhi based Etihad Airways PJSC has announced it will fly to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), thrice a week, from December 3, 2014, making it the second middle-eastern carrier after Dubai-based Emirates to do so. DFW, will be the fifth destination in the United States for Etihad, following Chicago O’Hare, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, and Los Angeles. Like Emirates, the …
Read More »British Airways Boeing 747 slices into house
This picture by Twitter user @HarrietTolputt says it all. A British Airways 747 sliced through a brick house at Johannesburg OR Tambo airport. Looking at the proximity of the house, and the length of the wing that has gone in to the house, I am wondering “Why has this not happened before?” A house could not spring up overnight. Looks …
Read More »Jet Airways to lease three A330-200s to Turkish Airlines
In a December 12th filing with the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange (BIST), national carrier Turkish Airlines has said it will lease three Airbus A330-200 aircraft from India’s Jet Airways for a period of six years. The financial details of the proposed lease were not made available. The middle-eastern giant will lease another five A330s from Dutch lessor AerCap for a …
Read More »British Airways to commence 787 service to Hyderabad in March 2014
Flag carrier British Airways will bring its latest aircraft, the 787-8 Dreamliner to India in the summer 2014 schedule which starts on March 30th. The aircraft has 214 seats in a three-class cabin layout with 35 business class seats, 25 economy plus, and 154 economy class seats. The aircraft features the latest cabin product of British Airways, though the economy …
Read More »Video: Emirates operates longest A380 flight Dubai Los Angeles
The world’s largest A380 operator, Dubai-based Emirates airline recently commenced flying the super-jumbo on its Dubai Los Angeles route. At 16h20m, it is the longest A380 flight. Start the week with a video showing the inaugural flight which received the water cannon salute from the rescue and fire-fighters of Los Angeles airport.
Read More »Cathay Pacific become first Asia Pacific airline to order Boeing 777-9X
Long time Boeing customer, Cathay Pacific Airways become the first Asia-Pacific airline to order the new 777-9X. The Hong Kong based carrier has placed an order for 21 of the mini-jumbo long haul aircraft valued at $7 million at list prices. The 777X program created waves in the industry last month, when it garnered a whopping 259 orders and commitments …
Read More »Photos: First flight of Asiana Airlines’ first A380
Korea’s Asiana Airlines’ first A380 has successfully completed its maiden flight. The A380 flew from Airbus’ facilities in Toulouse, France to the aircraft manufacturer’s site in Hamburg, Germany, where it will undergo painting and cabin furnishing. Asiana Airlines will become the twelfth operator of the A380 when it takes delivery of its first aircraft in the second quarter of 2014. …
Read More »Jet Airways’ new services to middle-east via Abu Dhabi scissor hub
From January 15, 2014, Jet Airways is adding two new daily flights to Dammam, Saudi Arabia. A non-stop from Kochi, and from Chennai with a stop in Abu Dhabi. Jet is also re-timing its existing Kochi Abu Dhabi Kuwait flight to offer passengers an evening connection to Dammam on the Chennai Abu Dhabi Dammam flight. All flights will be operated …
Read More »Air India optimistic of joining the Star alliance
Unlike news reports which indicate Air India will re-commence the joining process with Star Alliance, and therefore leave a possibility of a negative outcome, a press release by the national carrier exudes confidence that the carrier will surely join the alliance. Air India set to join Star Alliance The National Carrier is set to join Star Alliance, the leading global …
Read More »Etihad to commence Abu Dhabi to Jaipur flights
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will launch a daily service from Abu Dhabi to Jaipur commencing on April 1, 2014. With Jaipur, Etihad will serve ten destinations in India Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, New Delhi and Trivandrum. Etihad will operate the service with an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration, 16 …
Read More »SpiceJet and TigerAir collaborate via interline agreement
Two budget carriers, India’s SpiceJet and Singapore’s Tiger Airways, have signed a three-year interline agreement to carry passengers on each other’s networks through Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi airport (RGIA). From January 6, 2014, SpiceJet customers from 14 Indian cities Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Indore, Mangalore, Madurai, Pune, Tirupati, and Visakhapatnam, can connect to TigerAir’s Singapore flights from …
Read More »AirAsia to use Bangalore as its India hub?
AirAsia is close to signing an agreement to use Bangalore as its hub for India operations, Bhaskar Bodapati, Senior Director of the Bengaluru Airport International Limited (BIAL) revealed in Saturday’s Deccan Herald. This will be a coup for the company, especially after the loss of the financially defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Historically, Bangalore has been ignored by India’s domestic airlines for …
Read More »KLM improves its business class
KLM, the Royal Dutch Airline now provides fully flat beds on daily flights from New Delhi to Amsterdam on October 28, 2013. Starting this winter, all KLM international long-haul destination flights served by Boeing 747-400 will offer its business class passengers the new fully flat beds.Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Yeshwant Pawar, General Manager South Asia said “KLM continues to invest …
Read More »Vote for Rotary in United Airline’s charity miles give away
As a Rotarian, I seek your help. It will take only about two minutes of your time. As an annual charity event, United Airlines donates 10 million airline miles to various non-profit charities. Each participating nonprofit partner is guaranteed to receive a minimum of 25,000 miles. The remaining portion of the 10 million total miles will be distributed to all …
Read More »Kuwait Airways signs agreement to buy A350 and A320neo
By BA Staff European airframer, Airbus has signed an agreement with national carrier Kuwait Airways to buy 10 A350-900s and 15 A320neos. A little over two weeks ago, Kuwait Airways had suspended its Chairman for publicly stating an intent to buy five A330-200s from India’s Jet Airways.
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