Category Archives: Aviation

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Aug 2019 were 943.58 lakhs as against 913.95 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year, registering annual growth of 3.24% and monthly growth of 3.87%, revealed Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

It is mandatory for Indian passport holders to travel with return ticket if they are travelling on tourist visa, according to a recent statement issued by Thai Airways. The statement advises passengers that the immigration department in many countries have deported passengers due to one-way tickets seeking entry into the country on tourist visa. Hence, Indian nationals travelling on tourist visa must have confirmed return tickets, in order to avoid any inconvenience

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Air India have joined hands to announce the launch of a new nonstop flight connection from Delhi to Seoul. This first joint promotion initiative intends to promote more travellers visiting from India to South Korea with Air India as their preferred airline. It will be the shortest duration flight flying from Delhi-Seoul with six hours of flying time and maximum baggage allowance of two pieces, which is 46 kgs for economy passengers. With fares starting from INR 41,618, Air India is all set to target the Indian market with mostly the same fare offered from all the departure cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. Not just this, to comfort the South Korean passengers on board, the Dreamliner aircraft on this air route will serve Korean food along with the Indian vegetarian and non-vegetarian meal options. In the year 2018 approximately 119,791 Indian tourist visited South Korea and 150,457 South Korean tourist visited India.

The LCCs are expected to post a strong double-digit growth of 25-30% in fiscal in domestic passenger traffic, led by robust expansion of domestic capacity by SpiceJet and Indigo. However, non-revival of Jet Airways would curb growth at the industry level.  Firmer fares and strong passenger-traffic growth are estimated to propel the earnings before Interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and lease rentals (EBITDAR) margin of India’s low-cost carriers (LCCs) to 24-25% this fiscal, compared with 15-16% in the last. Fares are expected to rise because of limited capacity additions in the industry since Jet Airways ran aground. With the improvement in EBITDAR margin, the LCCs’ operating cash flows are expected to touch a decadal high of Rs 4,700-5,200 crore this fiscal.

LOT Polish Airlines, a member of Star Alliance has launched its 8-hour long flight to Warsaw, Poland. The airline will operate this route five times per week on Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This will provide more connectivity from India not only to Poland but also give an option of seamless travel to Central, Western and Eastern Europe. New Delhi is now LOTs sixth destination. “LOT provides not only the shortest and most convenient way of travel to Warsaw but also a perfect gateway to all passengers travelling from Delhi catchment area to Europe. LOT is the leading legacy carrier in Central and Eastern Europe, the fastest growing region of  the continent. There is a huge potential for air travel, almost 9.5 million passengers travelled between India and Europe and  3.3 million between Delhi and Europe during the last 12 months. Our convenient schedule, including an overnight eastbound flight, a comfortable on-board product and seamless connectivity via Warsaw will certainly increase the flow of business and leisure travelers coming to and from India” , says Rafał Milczarski, CEO of LOT Polish Airlines

Aviation firms offering helicopter services at places identified under the UDAN scheme will get additional subsidy from the Uttarakhand government, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said recently. Rawat also said that the state has great potential for expansion of heli services. He says, “Companies which offer heli services in areas identified under the UDAN Yojana will get subsidy from the state government in addition to the subsidy given by the Centre.” The first-of-its-kind summit based on the theme of expanding connectivity through helicopters was organised here jointly by the Civil Aviation Ministry, the state government and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI).

The Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has started a three-month trial of bio-metric facial recognition entry system for domestic Vistara flyers out of Terminal 3. The participation in the trials is purely voluntary and at the discretion of the passengers, said the spokesperson of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). With the facial recognition technology, passengers’ entry would be automatically processed based on facial recognition system at all checkpoints, including airport entry, entry into security checks, and aircraft boarding. “A suitable consent form will be signed by passengers. This trial will run for three months. Subsequent roll-out plans will be made. The enrolment process for passengers with valid flight tickets and government ID proofs will start at the registration kiosk. After this, their facial details will be captured by a camera.” he added. After successful completion of the trial, the facial recognition facility would be officially launched at Terminal 3, and subsequently at other terminals at the Delhi airport.

The latest Travelport research shows Indian travellers are leading the way in voice search, with 69% using the technology. With a population of 400 million that speak over 20 languages, there is a large section of people from Tier II and III cities who are becoming more comfortable with lingual voice commands over typing—they are literally finding it easier to use their ‘voice’ to search, reveals the Mobile Travel Trends 2019 report by Travelport. Google is predicting that India will soon become the world’s first voice-driven internet market, with voice being both the primary input and output.

The Indian domestic Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) market recorded an 8.9% annual growth rate, up from 8.2% in June, reveals IATA Air Passenger Market Analysis. The market has not yet returned to the double-digit growth rates that were the norm in the past 4-5 years. Yet it seems to be adjusting well to the disruption caused by the demise of Jet Airways; capacity is also back on track (7.1% yoy in July vs 3.4% in June).

Passengers flying via Air India will avail a meet and greet service called ‘Namaskar Sewa’ from 23 September. This service can be availed at Rs 750 for domestic passengers and Rs 1500 for international fliers. In this service, dedicated personnel will receive customers at the airport entry gate and assist them till they are seated in the aircraft. Air India, which is already offering similar services to first class passengers, will be starting the initiative on a pilot basis at the Delhi airport in September. The Namaskar Sewa will be provided to passengers for a nominal fee, according to an airline official. He stated further that the initiative would be focusing more on international passengers, particularly those in transit, as they have to go from one terminal to another. Air India would have a dedicated team of up to three personnel to help passengers who register for the services through the web link ‘namaskarsewa.in’. “The number of personnel will depend on the number of customers or group’s size,” the official shared. The initiative is being rolled out at a time when Air India is dealing with stiff competition and grievances regarding services from passengers. After Delhi, the Namaskar Sewa will be rolled out at Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata airports, where Air India has sizeable international operations.