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Air India launched (05-Dec-08) a promotional scheme for passengers travelling on its select domestic metro sectors. The scheme titled ‘Winter Warmth’ will be applicable for travel between the four metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai; and also between the four metros cities and Bangalore/Hyderabad. The scheme, aims at frequent flyers – award of one free return ticket of two …

Following reductions from fellow airlines, Kingfisher Airlines and Kingfisher Red, today, announced reduced fuel surcharge on air tickets. The cut on fuel surcharge on all domestic routes will be applicable with immediate effect, a company spokesperson said. Kingfisher Red (formerly Air Deccan) has reduced fuel surcharge For routes under 750 kms, the fuel surcharge is reduced by Rs. 300, from …

Kingfisher Airlines will start operations to its second international destination with the launch of daily direct flights from Mumbai to London from January 5, 2009. A330 image is my copyrightAccording to the release issued by the airline, a brand new Airbus A330-200 will be deployed for the route. Kingfisher Airlines commenced its international operations on September 3, 2008 with its …

I was just reading an article on Business Standard about no fare cuts by Jet and JetLite, and in the background, I get this news from Jet and JetLite. From tomorrow, December 6, 2008, JetLite has announced a reduction in applicable passenger fuel surcharges on all domestic routes. For routes under 750 kms, the fuel surcharge is reduced by Rs. …

Read a nice article by Anjuli Bhargava in the Business Standard today, about the airlines’ ticket prices, the fuel prices, and the politicians. I strongly recommend your reading it. Ms. Bhargava asks Can someone enlighten me as to what’s going on? I am referring to this quid pro quo that’s been playing out through the media between the airline industry, …

The Wall Street Journal reports Boeing Co. may further delay first deliveries of its flagship 787 Dreamliner by at least six months to account for the recent strike by union machinists and other snags. According to people familiar with the situation, Boeing officials are expected to announce later this month that first deliveries of the fuel-efficient jet might not occur …

DNA reports how airlines are killing the goose that lays golden egg, by resorting to price gouging at Mangalore As per DNA Businessman Abdul Wahab had to make a sudden trip from Bangalore to Mangalore recently. He walked into the office of one of the airlines at the BIAL airport. The ticket he bought cost him Rs. 8900. A while …

All the major airports across India have been turned in to fortresses following perceived threats. The jitters created a security scare at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport in the early hours of Friday, and triggered panic among passengers and sent security officials into a tizzy. The chaos began when a sound similar to gunshots were reportedly heard from the …

Jon Ostrower, of FlightBlogger, probably the best aviation blog around, has uncovered an internal Airbus competitive intelligence briefing on their arch rival Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner program. A briefing, filled with juicy details. Even if you are not interested in commercial aircraft development, I recommend reading both Jon’s article, as well as the Airbus presentation. It is a stunning eye opener …

Delta Air Lines is taking another step in aligning and combining its frequent flier program with recently acquired, Northwest Airlines’ WorldPerks program: It will let SkyMiles members earn elite status by flying a certain number of segments. Delta announced elite and reward changes to both the Delta SkyMiles® and Northwest WorldPerks® programs to better align member benefits. Beginning in 2009, …

One frequently hears the term “fuel hedging”. May not be much in India, since airlines are not allowed to import fuel directly, and the government controlled oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, etc., do not practice hedging. Fuel Hedging is a contractual tool used by some airlines to stabilize jet fuel costs. A fuel hedge contract commits …

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said its supervisory board approved a plan to buy ailing Austrian Airlines AG. At the end of September reporting period, Lufthansa had cash and reserves of about €3.8 billion, with a nine-month net profit of €551 million. As the global economic turmoils squeeze the airline industry, the proposed merger highlights how the relative strong airlines are gaining …

My good friend K.B. Syed, recommended this article as a counter balance to the Arvind Lavakere article. It is not my intention to turn this in to a religious or ethic debate, but rather to raise awareness, on the methods, blatant and devious, used to divide us, instead of uniting us. In this regard, my respects to Mobashar Jawed Akbar. …

Airlines across the globe are grounding planes, cutting capacity and delaying or even canceling orders for new aircraft as the global economic crisis hits both passenger and cargo air traffic. Add to this airline mergers like those of Delta-Northwest, Air France-KLM, Lufthansa-BMI, the proposed British Airways-Qantas, leading to industry consolidation, and in the worst cases even going out of business, …

While we passengers spend tons of money on noise reduction headphones, and drive cabin crews silly with our umpteen requests for earplugs, weary Emirates Airbus A380 pilots are complaining that they cannot sleep in their crew-rest area in the aft main cabin because the aircraft is too quiet!!! The pilots claim that the lack of engine noise in the A380’s …

Declaring victory, thousands of anti-government protesters in Thailand today ended their siege of country’s two main airports allowing landing of the first international flight in eight days, bringing relief to over three hundred thousand stranded passengers including Indians. Thousands of protesters came out of the Suvarnabhumi international airport in cars and trucks ending the siege prompted by the decision of …

Hamburg is cold and snowing, but it had warm news for Australian national carrier Qantas. Two QANTAS A380s all painted up. MSN015 (F-WWSL – VH-OQB) is seen here taxiing out with MSN022 (F-WWSS – VH-OQC) in the background. Both birds should be bound for warmer temperatures in the warm summer of Australia (in the southern hemisphere) very soon. Tipping my …

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum announced today a gift of $6 million for Phase Two of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center from Airbus Americas Inc. The gift is the largest corporate gift to the Smithsonian Institution in 2008. In recognition of the donation, the Imax Theater at the Udvar-Hazy Center will be named the Airbus Imax Theater. “The …

Airline also gets nod from MoCA for international operations from Mumbai and Kolkata The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) yesterday granted Kingfisher Airlines the permission to operate to eight international destinations and gave the go ahead to commence international flights from Mumbai and Kolkata. According to a report in the Times of India today, the airline has also got a …

Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS) is in talks with national carrier Air India to ink a pro-rata agreement for providing connectivity to its passengers from New Delhi to seven more domestic cities. According to a report in today’s Economic Times, SAS will also look at other areas of co-operation with Air India such as ground handling (maintenance and servicing of aircraft) …