Category Archives: Aviation

Air India is set to commence operations on the Delhi-Washington DC route from April 2017, revealed Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, while addressing a conference in New Delhi . “Air travel is crucial in making India more accessible to the rest of the world and therefore, we are aggressively looking into expansion,” he said. The new route marks the fifth direct air connection between India and the US for the national airline as it currently plies to New York, Chicago, Newark and San Francisco. Lohani also shared that plans to connect Hyderabad to the U.S. and other countries like Singapore and China are being looked into, and will also soon address the demand to connect Delhi and Mumbai to destinations like Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Air India and Jet Airways passengers travelling from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI)can now check-in at two Delhi Metro stations namely Shivaji Stadium Metro Station and New Delhi Metro Station. This facility will be made available from July 1. Earlier, only Air India passengers could check in at New Delhi Metro Station of the high speed corridor–Airport Express. The new facility will be available to passengers of the two airlines, flying both on domestic as well as international routes. The check-in counters at the stations will close two hours before the scheduled departure of a flight. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation informed that the passengers can obtain the boarding pass at these check-in counters and check-in the baggage as well which will be transferred to IGI Airport’s Terminal-3 through a secured Baggage Handling System (BHS).

In a bid to expand its India portfolio, Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air, said that Oman Air wants to increase its weekly flights from the current 126 from Muscat to 175 weekly flights by 2018. He said, “We currently fly double daily flights to six out of the 11 destinations in India with 21,147 seats. Our current bilateral agreement allows us only so much. If we are allowed more, we will opt to go triple daily to these six same cities namely Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad as our load factors are already close to 90 per cent thanks to the travel trade.” Gregorowitsch was visiting Mumbai to talk about Oman’s national carrier’s growth, strategy and expansion plans. The airline also hosted its agent partners for a networking and Iftar party. The airline celebrates 23 years of its India operations.

POP, the new low-cost, long-haul airline on the anvil, plans to operate non-stop flights from the UK to Amritsar (ATQ) and Ahmedabad (AMD). POP directly targets these whilst offering the business sector two new routes with a tailored, non-stop service. The needs of the VFR and leisure/tourism markets will be met at affordable prices that will ensure market penetration by word of mouth. Nino (Navdip) Singh Judge, Chairman and Principal of POP, commented: “POP is different – it is going to be a UK airline whose DNA is Indian. The Punjabi and Gujarati communities in both the UK and India historically have had strong family and business connections and that desire for both communities to keep in touch and visit each other has not abated over the years. Add to that India’s booming economy and the rise of the middle classes – including the expansion in their numbers, their larger disposable income, their increasing spending power and their insatiable desire to travel all means there are vast numbers of potential passengers waiting for an airline like POP to offer them the opportunity to fly. Combine the fact that passengers are contributing to the improvement of their own society in both the UK and India – perhaps even helping a village or an individual known to them personally – means there is an excellent chance for POP’s two proposed routes to Amritsar and Ahmedabad of being a great success.” Currently flights between the UK and India are predominantly between London Heathrow and just two main destinations, Mumbai and Delhi, and three supporting ones, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. There are also a number of indirect UK to India routes through the Middle …

Pawan Hans is all set to develop the first heliport in the country in Rohini, Delhi, and it will be done within a month, reveals B. P. Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director. Speaking at an event today, he said, “Under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, governance has taken a lead and we are bringing up the first heliport of the country in Rohini, Delhi. It will be ready in a month’s time for the use of people of the people in Delhi and its neighbouring states. And the policy also promotes to bring similar hubs.”

Vistara has announced the addition of Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, as its 18th destination, effective September 30, 2016. Port Blair will be served daily from Kolkata and from New Delhi (same aircraft service via Kolkata). With this new flight, frequency between Delhi and Kolkata will also increase to three flights daily. Twice daily service to Kolkata from Delhi had commenced on June 10 this year, and has seen very high demand for Vistara’s product. One way fares start from Rs 5,500 from Kolkata and Rs 9,850 from New Delhi. Tickets are now available for sale on all channels.

According to data released by DGCA, passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-May 2016 were 396.04 lakhs as against 322.32 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 22.87% . The statistics revealed that the passenger load factor in the month of May 2016 has slightly increased compared to previous month primarily due to the onset of tourist season. The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of May 2016 has been 0.55%. Air Asia has been leading in terms of On Time Performance (OTP) at 90.2 per cent leaving behind Vistara and Indigo. SpiceJet emerged as the winner again in Passenger Load Factor (PLF) at 93.5 per cent.

The Government will now permit 100% FDI in Brownfield airport projects under automatic route, extending the earlier cap of 74 per cent. The extant FDI policy on Airports permits 100% FDI under automatic route in Greenfield Projects. As per the present FDI policy, foreign investment up to 49% was allowed under automatic route in Scheduled Air Transport Service/ Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline and regional Air Transport Service. It has now been decided to raise this limit to 100%, with FDI up to 49% permitted under automatic route and FDI beyond 49% through Government approval. For NRIs, 100% FDI will continue to be allowed under automatic route. However, foreign airlines would continue to be allowed to invest in capital of Indian companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air-transport services up to the limit of 49% of their paid up capital and subject to the laid down conditions in the existing policy. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Boeing and Tata Advanced Systems celebrated the foundation laying of a new facility in Hyderabad for its joint venture named TATA Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL). The joint venture has been established to co-produce Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter fuselages and other aerostructures, as well as to pursue integrated systems in aerospace. The Hyderabad production facility will eventually be the sole producer of AH-64 fuselages globally. The Apache has been flown or selected for acquisition by the United States and 15 other nations, including India. Participating in the ceremony were Manohar Parrikar, Defence Minister, Government of India; K. T. Rama Rao,  Minister of IT and Industries & Commerce, Telangana; and other dignitaries from the Telangana government. “The joint venture between Tata and Boeing is a significant step in developing India’s capabilities for aerospace & defence manufacturing and becoming a global exporter. This is a clear example of the significant progress made towards “Make in India for defence,” said Parrikar, Union Defence Minister. “I am delighted to see Boeing and Tata step forward and make this substantial investment, in defence FDI.” Speaking on the occasion, S. Ramadorai, Chairman of Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL), said, “Today’s ground-breaking ceremony is a significant milestone in furthering our commitment to the Indian aerospace sector. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 this partnership could boost the emerging manufacturing sector, contributing to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Make in India. I am positive that this joint venture which brings together the core strengths of both companies will help take this strategic relationship to the next level.” “This joint venture is an exciting advancement for Boeing in leveraging our capital and expertise globally,” said Pratyush Kumar, …

Jet Airways has introduced #JetAdvance where flyers will have the flexibility to change their booking to an earlier flight for a nominal fee. This customer-centric initiative is applicable for flights across the Jet Airways domestic network and offers guests the opportunity to travel on an earlier flight. This new feature will help guests in reaching their destination ahead of schedule with greater ease and convenience. This facility will be applicable for flights with departure time difference of maximum of 4 hrs. Guests are required to be physically present at the airport for managing the booking. The request for time change will be confirmed at the check-in counter, subject to availability of seats and for a fee of Rs 1,000 per guest per flight. This new feature is not applicable for guests booked under group fares. Gaurang Shetty, Whole-time Director, Jet Airways, said : “The comfort and convenience of guests is our utmost priority. This new feature demonstrates Jet Airways’ continued commitment to the ‘Guest First’ philosophy. We understand the need of guests having to save precious time while travelling between important engagements. With the introduction of this feature, Jet Airways has yet again raised the industry benchmark for customer experience.”