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Dr. Vijay Mallya spoke to Business Today magazine. Excerpts from that interview. The original article can be read here.———Can the ‘King of Good Times’ survive the turbulence in the current aviation downturn? In an exclusive interview that started well past midnight and continued for over two hours at his residence on Delhi’s tony Sardar Patel Marg, Mallya shed light on …

All international airlines operating to Bangkok, are preparing to resume operations to Suvarnabhumi International Airport by December 5th. Airlines are waiting for Thai officials to certify the airports are ready for operations. Inspection of systems at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport will begin today. Most airlines indicate they will be able to resume flights on December 5th, subject to the Thai …

Updated information is available on the “BIA Bus & Taxi” link on the top menu bar.

The Telegraph is reporting “the leader of a group of anti-government protesters in Thailand says the week-long siege of Bangkok’s airports will end on Wednesday morning.” The blockade of Bangkok airport will end on Wednesday (December 3) after a court in Thailand dissolved the ruling party and banned the prime minister Somchai Wongsawat from office for five years, but the …

While airlines have seen one of their biggest expenses, fuel, come down in price, they are still struggling to find demand as the world’s major economies contract, and tis the season of industry consolidation. British Airways on Tuesday said it’s holding merger talks with Australian national carrier and fellow OneWorld alliance partner, Qantas Airways, in a deal that could combine …

Just received an update from Jet Airways, indicating it has mounted relief operations for transporting stranded passengers at Bangkok, due to the political unrest in Thailand and consequent closure of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Since Wednesday, 26 November, 2008, Jet Airways is operating relief flights into and out of Utaphao (U TaPao IATA:UTP), a naval base airport in Thailand, from its …

The plan was link the two “Silicon” hubs – Bangalore and San Francisco on this Faced with huge losses, and a diving economy, Kingfisher Airlines was forced to shelve its plans to procure the ultra long range Airbus A340-500. These aircraft were instead diverted to Nigerian carrier Arik Air. As per an Airbus press release Arik Air, based in Lagos, …

This incident reported by the Times of India Kolkata takes the cake for serious goof-ups. Monday December 1, 2008 Time: 14:44 local (0914 Zulu). SpiceJet Bagdogra-Kolkata flight SG 324 is approaching Kolkata airport for landing. The pilot radios the air traffic controller on duty for clearance. The controller asks the pilot to align the aircraft to land on the secondary …

The “Zero Commision” ruckus has been ratcheted up another step, by the travel agents. As per various news reports, In a move aimed at forcing airlines to revoke their decision to withdraw the five per cent commission, previously built-in to the ticket prices, and paid to the travel agents, over 2,500 travel companies, including IATA travel agents and online travel …

Boeing Co. engineers ratified a four-year contract offer, which Boeing and SPEEA had reached in a tentative agreement in mid November. Boeing engineering and technical employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) IFPTE Local 2001 ratified four-year collective bargaining agreements covering nearly 21,000 employees in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah. SPEEA announced the result today …

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Dr. Omkar Goswami says our governments have created a state that is completely unprepared to deal with growing terrorism. Dear Prime Minister On 13 January 1898, Emile Zola wrote an open letter to the French president in a major daily titled J’Accuse (I Accuse). It accused the government of anti-Semitism and the …

Coupled with the recent terror attacks in Mumbai which will hit air traffic, this step by Air India (merged with the old Indian Airlines), will definitely increase the pressure on private carriers Jet and Kingfisher to reduce air fares by pruning the fuel surcharges. Air India announced a reduction in fuel surcharge for all domestic sector flights by INR 400 …

PTI reports, V P Agarwal, a senior Board member of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), will take over as its Chief from January 1, 2009. As per official sources, the appointment of Agarwal, who will replace Dr K Ramalingam, has been approved by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet. Agarwal has been Member (Planning) of the state-owned airports …

The National Security Guards (NSG) has finally received the go-ahead for its own fleet of dedicated aircraft. The decision comes after the Mumbai terror attacks where commandos of the elite force battled terrorists at three major landmarks and killed eight of them. The NSG will also change its tactics after having tackled terrorists in Mumbai, which follows a full debrief …

With the advent of the new 20mW 532nM green laser pointers, a dangerous trend is emerging in the skies. According the Civil Aviation Authority, at least five attempts have been made to dazzle pilots with laser pointers in the skies over Northern Ireland in the last six months. Unfortunately, this trend is not limited over the skies of Northern Ireland …

I came across this rather provocative article, and while I do not fully subscribe to the author’s views, it nonetheless raises some interesting questions about governance in a democratic system, and the tendency of politicians to subvert the democratic ideals in favour of vote-bank politics. Having spent a significant portion of my life outside India, in the US and in …

JetLite introduces a direct flight connecting Gorakhpur to Delhi five times a week with immediate effect. The flight operated by 50 – seater Canadian Regional Jet -200 Series will give connections to passengers from Gorakhpur to major metros like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad, via New Delhi. Flight S2 6125 will depart New Delhi at 1430 hrs and arrive Gorakhpur …

The United Kingdom Treasury Monday said it plans to increase air passenger duty rates by length of haul and class of service on Nov. 1, 2009, instead of its previous per-plane tax proposal. The United Kingdom said it is moving from two to four “distance bands” in efforts to “improve environmental signals.” The new air passenger duties, set to take …

Reuters, quoting The Mail, reports, British airline Flybe is in talks to buy British Midland’s (BMI) subsidiary operations bmi regional and bmi baby. The two airlines are not core to the strategy of British Midland’s new owner, Lufthansa (LHAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), it said. Lufthansa took over British Midland last month, but the German airline has indicated it …

As per a press release Air France and KLM will operate “rescue” flights to Phuket on 1 and 2 December from Amsterdam and Paris-CDG respectively. Due to the closure of Bankok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport, Air France and KLM will operate one flight on 1st December and one flight on 2 December 2008 from Phuket Airport. Departure from Phuket on 1 …