Category Archives: Aviation

KLM,  the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands, will add one extra frequency between Amsterdam (AMS) and Mumbai (BOM) on Thursdays, starting from 2 September 2019. As of 30 September 2019, KLM will add another frequency on Wednesdays, making a total of five flights per week. All additional flights will be operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The flight schedule of the additional flights is as follows: KL 877 AMS d. 12:15  BOM a. 00:05+1 KL 878 BOM d. 02:20  AMS a. 08:00  

Lufthansa Group is to increase its Distribution Cost Charge (DCC) to £14 due to the weakening value of the pound. The latest hike takes effect from 1 June, with all tickets issued before this date subject to the current DCC of £11.30. The DCC does not apply for sales partners connected to Lufthansa Group airlines’ Direct PI or the free of charge, web-based SPRK booking platform. In the UK, the airline group claims that a “strongly increasing number of travel agents are in a position to take advantage of this saving, leading to a consistent price advantage of up to £60 on a round trip over the traditional GDS. The charge increase follows IAG’s decision to move to a £9 per leg fee in September last year, up from the previous fee of £8. Source: BBT

SpiceJet has introduced a daily non-stop flight on Mumbai-Jeddah-Mumbai sector from July 5. Mumbai is the third destination after Hyderabad and Kozhikode which is being connected by SpiceJet with the pilgrim city of Jeddah. SpiceJet’s flight SG 68 will depart from Mumbai at 7.30 pm (all local times) and arrive in Jeddah at 10.15 pm on the same day. The return flight SG 69 will depart at 11.30 pm and reach Mumbai at 6.20 am on the following day. Celebrating the launch, SpiceJet has announced a special fare of INR 12,399 (all-inclusive) for Mumbai – Jeddah and INR 15,399 (all inclusive) for Jeddah – Mumbai. Reiterating the airline’s commitment on augmenting direct connectivity between metros and key non-metro cities, SpiceJet has enhanced its operations on the Mumbai-Dehradun-Mumbai (2nd frequency) and Mumbai-Guwahati-Mumbai (2nd frequency) sectors. SpiceJet has also announced a new flight connecting Guwahati to Bagdogra. SpiceJet will deploy its Boeing 737 NG aircraft on both the international as well as domestic routes. Shilpa Bhatia Chief Sales and Revenue Officer SpiceJet, said, “Mumbai has always been one of our key destinations and with the launch of these new flights we intend to further ramp up our presence from the city. We are delighted to announce our new flight connecting Mumbai with Jeddah which will offer more convenience and flexibility to passengers travelling between the two cities for pilgrimage, business or leisure.” “The new domestic flights will help in minimizing the passenger inconvenience caused due to the sudden shortage in capacity within the Indian aviation industry.” She added.

Post a withdrawal of 28 weekly flights between Doha and the Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, Qatar Airways is looking for Indian partners for an additional capacity on a temporary operating permit basis to meet the air traffic demand on Qatar-India routes. The allocated seat capacity in the Qatar-India aviation market has not been increased since 2009, and the Gulf carrier has submitted a formal request to Indian authorities to favourably consider its request for additional seat capacity “to help evacuate the stranded Indian passengers in Doha”. “Qatar Airways is always open for partnership with other airlines, including Indian carriers. We will seriously consider any proposal for partnership from Indian carriers,” the airline said in a statement to PTI.

Pakistan has extended its partial airspace ban for flights to India until May 30. International carriers flying over the Indian airspace are also not allowed to enter Pakistan’s airspace. The decision has been made due to a lack of progress in bilateral talks between the two nations in this respect. On February 26, Pakistan had imposed the ban but made partial concessions in March, barring any for India. Pakistan government is now expected to review the ban towards the end of the month.

Amongst the 10 largest fleets in the world by country, India has the highest ratio of aircraft on order to aircraft in-service, according to a latest report by CAPA India.  In India, for example, the propensity to fly is 0.1 trips per capita today but by 2037 will rise to 0.4, or roughly four times greater. A survey questioned 20,000 people from 18 countries and found that 56 per cent of the people surveyed coming from emerging countries saw themselves first and foremost as global citizens. In India, this figure was 67 per cent. The BBC suggests this is partly because “…the world as a whole is becoming more prosperous and air travel is becoming more affordable to the rising middle classes.”

IndiGo, the Indian low-cost carrier that presently flies as far as Istanbul, is looking to make its way into the Europe-Asia market with a plan to offer budget Business Class seats on prospective long-haul routes. The move is part of the airline’s ambitious long-distance network as it aims to launch one-stop trips further into Europe, informs CEO Ronojoy Dutta. Though it is still unclear what the actual offering would be and how much it would cost, the airline is in talks with Airbus SE to buy their new, yet-to-be-released narrow-body jet. IndiGo already flies to 53 domestic and 18 international destinations. Earlier this month, SpiceJet had introduced Business Class on its flights post acquiring 737-800 aircraft from grounded Jet Airways’ fleet, allowing passengers to book Business Class with fares that were 30-40 per cent cheaper than its competitors.  

Saudia announced total traffic growth increased by 115% year-on-year in 2018, handling more than 34 million passengers in the year. The carrier has registered a 154% growth rate for North America, followed by the Middle East (+144%), the Indian subcontinent (+98%) and Mahatta (+77%) in Africa. The carrier handled more international passengers than domestic passengers for the first time in its history.  (Source: CAPA)

Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline, will soon commence its international operations.  The airline is planning to operate long-haul flight services to Sharjah, Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Houston, Guangzhou and Mumbai. Air Peace will deploy Boeing 777 on its international routes. The airline has acquired four Boeing 777 aircraft for its long-haul operations.

AirAsia India has launched a new direct daily flight between Kolkata and Chennai. The airline already has 18 flights connecting Kolkata to Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Indore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam. The flight from Kolkata, I5 556, will take off at 3.40 pm and reach Chennai at 06:05 pm. The return flight, I5 557, will take off from Chennai at 6.35 pm and reach Kolkata at 9.10 pm. Speaking on the development, Sanjay Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, AirAsia India said, “Kolkata is a key market for AirAsia India. The addition of this new route will strengthen up our connectivity in the east.”