Category Archives: Aviation

SpiceJet has introduced business class on its flights post acquiring 737-800 aircraft from grounded Jet Airways’ fleet, allowing passengers to book business class with fares at 30-40% less expensive than its competitors. Starting May 11, the airline will offer business class tickets on domestic routes between major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It is believed that average business class fares would moderate in the coming days since Jet Airways, the largest provider of business class seats, shut operations last month. SpiceJet has inducted around eight Jet Airways’ aircraft with unchanged seat configuration including the business class cabin. For instance, SpiceJet is offering fares at Rs 32,000 for return journey on the Delhi-Mumbai route, as compared to around Rs 46,000 offered by other full-service carriers like Vistara and Air India. On the Delhi-Bengaluru route, SpiceJet is charging return fare at Rs 40,000 for a two-way travel, compared to Rs 53,000 offered by both Air India and Vistara.

Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-biggest carrier, will be shutting its India operations from July 8 along with two routes in Russia.  The airline will also suspend its first-class service in a move to improve profitability and enhance safety. Asiana Airlines website says that it is now only taking bookings until July 7 from Delhi to Incheon. 

SpiceJet has announced the launch of 12 new domestic flights connecting the key metros of Mumbai and Delhi with a host of cities on its domestic network. SpiceJet has introduced new flights on the Delhi-Vishakhapatnam-Delhi and Delhi-Kochi-Delhi sectors. The airline will also enhance its operations on the Mumbai-Bengaluru-Mumbai (5th frequency), Mumbai-Gorakhpur-Mumbai (2nd frequency), Mumbai-Chennai-Mumbai (5th frequency) and Delhi-Srinagar-Delhi (3rd frequency) sectors.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is now considering re-allocating the airline’s foreign traffic rights to Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo. Local carriers have set sight on lucrative routes such as Mumbai-London, Delhi-Dubai and Mumbai-Paris and want the government to distribute slots for these sectors. The ministry has asked airlines to give their fleet induction plan so that a fair decision on giving traffic rights could be taken. (Source: IANS)

Korean Air has implemented 0% agent commission on all tickets issued on and after May 1, 2019. The news comes in line with many other airlines withdrawing agent’s commissions completely. Earlier, Korean Air was offering as much as 5% commission for agents in India, which was higher than many other airlines, who still offer commissions.

IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) Tourism has launched a tour package of six nights and seven days to Ladakh, Sham Valley and Nubra Valley. IRCTC Tourism is the tourism arm of the Indian Railways, announced that the tour will start from Delhi via economy class of GoAir. While the tour will be starting on multiple dates, the tariff of the package starts at Rs. 46,430 per person, which is inclusive of taxes, according to IRCTC Tourism’s website. The package includes air tickets (Delhi-Leh-Delhi round trip), accommodation in hotel rooms, entrance/monument fees as per the itinerary, breakfast, lunch and dinner according to IRCTC’s website. The package also offers travel insurance for passengers.

Utilising the free slots vacated by Jet Airways, Air Asia India is all set to expand its capacity after commencement of additional flights from the Delhi airport effective May 20. The low-cost airline will launch additional flights to Indore, Bagdogra, Hyderabad and Ranchi from Delhi. The fares will start from Rs 3,079. The flight I5 752 will depart at 05:35 from Delhi and arrive at 07:05 in Indore while flying back at 07:35 and reaching Delhi by 08:55. The I5 744 flight to Ranchi will depart at 09:35 and reach the destination by 11:15. It will fly back to Delhi on 11:45 and reach at 13:50. The Delhi to Bagdogra flight I5 756 will fly at 14:30 and reach the destination by 16:40 while I5 757 will fly back to Delhi on 17:10 and reach by 19:20 . The Delhi-Hyderabad flight will take off at 19:50 and reach Hyderabad by 22:10 and it fly back to Delhi at 22:50 and reach Delhi by 1:00. The airline inducted its 20th aircraft in February and is now eligible to fly overseas, prior to necessary approval from DGCA.

GoAir in a statement has said that ahead of rainy season in Maldives, the airline has decided to curtail flight operations to Velana International Airport, Male for the period between July – October 2019. “Across the world airlines operate leisure destinations on the basis of seasonality and load factors. Post that, GoAir management team will take a call and resume flights.” GoAir spokesperson said.

Emirates and Latam Airlines have entered a new codeshare partnership agreement with Latam Airlines Brazil, under which it would cover domestic services in Brazil. Emirates passengers travelling to and from Brazil will now be able to connect with 17 cities in Latam’s domestic network covered by the codeshare agreement including Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Foz do Iguaçu. Passengers travelling to/from these cities will now be able to connect seamlessly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro with Emirates’ flights to its Dubai hub, which serves over 150 destinations worldwide. Under the deal, Emirates passengers get more choice to travel to/from Brazil with minimum connection times to destinations in Emirates’ global network such as Japan, Australia and India amongst others. “We’re pleased to establish a partnership with Latam Airlines Brazil, providing our passengers with increased choice, flexibility and ease of connection to different cities within Brazil. We continuously invest in providing more benefits to our customers. With our award-winning product and strong partners in Brazil, we look forward to continue supporting the country’s growing inbound tourist numbers and business trade opportunities,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president, Strategic Planning, Revenue Optimisation and Aeropolitical Affairs.

From Amsterdam, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will operate 777-300ER to Mumbai on May 10, 12 and 13, instead of 787-9. This will allow the airline to carry more passengers as 777-300ER will have additional 114 seats.