Category Archives: Aviation

As per the February 2021 assessment made by Safe Travel Barometer – a travel technology company – three Indian airports figured in the Safe Travel Score for Asia Pacific airports. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport came in at fourth with a score of 4.3, while Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport came sixth with 4.2 score. Kempegowda International Airport was in the seventh position with 4.1 score. Number one was taken by China’s Beijing Capital International Airport with 4.4 out of 5.

Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri has inaugurated the Kurnool Airport in Orvakal, Andhra Pradesh, which is the  6th airport in the state to become functional after Kadapa, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Rajahmundry & Vijayawada. Flight operations from Kurnool will commence from 28th March under the RCS-UDAN scheme to Bengaluru, Vishakhapatnam and Chennai which will bring the region closer to the major hubs in the South India.  

The latest air ticket data analysed by ForwardKeys reveals that comparing April-September 2021 against the same six months in 2019, a significant shift in source markets is evident. The USA, which used to account for 31% of actual air tickets into India pre-COVID has doubled. The UK, a traditional source market, has shrunk by more than half to only 6%.

Air India has announced that it is all set to launch flights between Hyderabad and London from May 9, 2021 to September 6, 2021. The non-stop flights will be operated every Monday in the said period, and the carrier has allowed bookings through its website, booking offices, call centre, as well as through authorised travel agents.

Indian LCC IndiGo claims that the airline has already processed close to Rs1030 crore of refunds, which amounts to about 99.95% of the total amount owed to its customers. The pending credit shells are mostly cash transactions wherein IndiGo is awaiting bank transfer details from the customers.

In its commitment to get travellers safely where they need to be, Qatar Airways has announced that it will no longer require passengers to present a negative RT-PCR test report when departing India, where this requirement was implemented previously. However, any government regulation imposed or required by the destination or transit country will continue to apply. The airline has included a total of 13 countries in its list of exempt nations, including the Philippines and Nepal.

Jeh Wadia has stepped down as the Managing Director of GoAir and Ben Baldanza, the former CEO of Spirit Airlines, has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of the airline. Baldanza has been advising the board and management for GoAir, and will now work directly with CEO Kaushik Khona and Pankaj Chaturvedi, the Chief Financial Officer.

With the continuous rise in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices, flight tickets are expected to cost more. HS Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, says, “There has been a continuous rise in price of ATF, so it has been decided to increase the lower fare band by 5 per cent, keeping the upper fare band unchanged.” 

Reacting to a social media post by Air India on March 18, Pradip Lulla, Acting President, TAFI, said that the association has written to the national carrier, asking for clarification. The post said, ‘Passengers traveling on AI flights to Rome, Toronto and Vancouver from India may kindly note that booking for these flights will not be available through travel agencies based in India.’

In its bid to strengthen regional connectivity, IndiGo has announced Rajkot as its newest destination. The airline will operate direct flights from Rajkot to Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad as part of its summer 2021 schedule, w.e.f 28th March.