Category Archives: Aviation

Lufthansa has simplified its Miles & More program and has introduced a point system for frequent flyer status, instead of status miles, which is easy to understand allowing more transparency. In future, Frequent Traveller and Senator status will be granted for life for long-term loyalty. The changes made to the program will introduce greater transparency and simplicity in points allocation, in addition to driving long-term loyalty amongst its global consumer base. The loyalty program also reflects the Group’s new, modern understanding of premium travel. George Ettiyil, Senior Director Sales South Asia – Lufthansa Group Airlines asserts that Indian customers, in particular, stand to reap significant benefits from the changes made to the program. He says, “With the latest evolvement of the Miles & More Program, the frequency of flying will be rewarded more than ever to attain and maintain a status with Lufthansa Group Airlines. This simple approach will benefit the Indian customers and fans of our airline brands, as we are personalising their rewards and uncomplicating the points accumulation process. Through this, we aim to enhance their experience of travelling with a Lufthansa Group Airline even further.” All changes apply to flights from 1 January 2021.

Somon Air (SZ) is set to launch twice weekly flight from Delhi to Dushanbe in Tajikistan on December 1, 2019. Bird Travels is the GSA for Somon Air and the flights are open for sales in GDS. The nonstop flight will fly to Dushanbe ex. Delhi on every Wednesday & Sunday and will reduce travel time to only 2hrs 30 minutes from the earlier 10-12 hours through connecting flights. There is a huge Indian student community in Tajikistan studying medicine, and there are many Indian pharma companies. Apart from that, it is a great destination for leisure and MiCE groups.

AirAsia India will fly daily on the Ahmedabad-Bengaluru route starting November 22 and Ahmedabad-Delhi starting December 20 connecting the commercial capital of Gujarat with other major destinations. An official of AirAsia India, said, “Right now we will be flying daily on these two routes but we might increase the frequency in the future.”

IndiGo has signed a one-way codeshare agreement with Qatar Airways, allowing Qatar to place its code on IndiGo flights between Doha and Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive, revealed that they are looking at making it a two-way codeshare in future, and even grow the relationship further with IndiGo. Baker revealed that they are not denying a possibility of buying a stake in IndiGo, since they have been interested in the same for a long time. However, there is no progress in the same as yet.

To cater to growing travel demands, India would need around 2,400 aircraft in the next 20 years and around 85-90 per cent of them would be narrow-body, a senior executive of Boeing said recently. Indian airlines currently have around 600 aircraft in their fleet. While narrow-body planes are smaller and used for short-haul routes, wide-body aircraft are used to fly on medium and long-haul routes. “Based on economic growth, evolving business models and the dynamics in the marketplace, India will need around 2,400 new aircraft deliveries in the next 20 years,” said Darren Hulst, Deputy Vice President of Commercial Marketing, Boeing. “The vast majority of these aircraft, as we no doubt expect, would be single-aisle fleets, 737-sized aircraft. It will make up for 85-90 per cent of the deliveries in the market place,” Hulst explained.

In a recent update, Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has shared that AAI has taken up up-gradation work at Jabalpur Airport to make it suitable for operation of A-320 type of aircraft. This includes contruction of new terminal building, ATC tower, fire station, extension of runway, construction of new apron, isolation bay, perimeter road etc. the work of Terminal Building and ancillary building is expected to be completed by June 2021.

With the beginning of this year’s cruise season on November 4, the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) began its heli-tourism initiative. While the Port had been facilitating transport services like taxi and buses for the guests, the Port Trust has also allowed heli-tourism from its premises. New Delhi-based Chipsan Aviation has deployed a six-seater helicopter to ferry tourists to various toruists places like Bekal Fort near Kasargod in neighbouring Kerala, Sringeri Sharada Peetam, Chikkamagaluru and other attractions.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently said that he is planning to connect Amritsar with the rest of the world by air. “Amritsar is not just known for the Golden Temple. It is a religious place and we have Ramtirath Temple, Duryana Temple and we have some famous churches here. This is a place which people of all religions come and seek blessings,” he said.

India is set to become the third largest aviation passenger market by 2040 with a total of 1.3 billion passengers, according to 2019 World Traffic Forecasts, released by the Airport Council International (ACI) World. China was placed at the first position with 3.5 billion passengers, followed by United States at the second spot with 2.9 billion passengers in 2040, in the report. Together, these three countries would handle almost 40 per cent of the global passenger traffic. India is also expected to be the third leading market for aircraft movements by 2040, after the US (23 per cent), China (16) with four per cent of global aircraft movements.

The government is planning to build 100 additional airports, add 1,000 new routes connecting smaller towns and establish a plane-leasing financing business by 2024 to boost the economy, according to a report. The NITI Aayog proposal was discussed during an infrastructure review meeting held recently. Increasing the strength of locally trained pilots to 600 and doubling domestic aircraft fleet to 1,200 by 2024 was also proposed. (Source: Economic Times)