Category Archives: Aviation

Hahn Air, unveiled its new NDC platform and is extending its suite of products for partner airlines and travel agencies with a solution powered by IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. To mark the occasion, the German airline and ticketing expert welcomed the first passengers holding NDC-enabled Hahn Air tickets on one of its scheduled flights from Luxembourg to Dusseldorf on 16th August 2019. “As Hahn Air today supports travel agencies in 190 markets and airlines of any size and business model, we carefully developed a scalable solution that meets the needs of all our current and future partners in a changing airline industry”, says Christopher Allison, Head of NDC at Hahn Air. “We are leveraging on the expertise we have acquired during our 20 years of being the leader in airline distribution solutions, as well as our involvement in the IATA activities driving and developing the NDC standard from the very beginning. We have been actively participating in several IATA committees and are currently holding the chair position of the NDC Orders Group, as well as a seat on the Shop-Order Board and the Architecture and Technology Strategy Board.” Hahn Air’s NDC platform will bring the following benefits to partner airlines: Airlines, irrespective if they are already NDC capable or not, can add an additional distribution channel and thereby extend their global customer base. In addition, airlines can join the world of NDC by using Hahn Air’s NDC platform without having to develop their own solution. Thereby they save time, money and resources and don’t have to deal with the complexity of the new standard.   Travel agents will benefit as follows: All travel agents, regardless of which system …

IGI Airport, Delhi has rolled out ‘Express security check-in’ facility at Terminal 2 for all the domestic passengers with handbags as luggage. This facility will enable them to head towards a separate express lane with X-Ray machines for their luggage and CISF security personnel. The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), in a statement said, “This facility will significantly reduce the load on the main security check-in area by diverting passengers carrying only hand baggage towards express lane. It will ensure fast and seamless flow of the domestic passengers travelling without any check-in baggage.” The Delhi airport has introduced the facility in collaboration with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Terminal 2 handles about 45,000 domestic passengers daily of which, more than 13,000 passengers (30 per cent) travel without any check-in baggage. The service is soon expected to be extended to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 as well. (Inputs from PTI)

According to The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the domestic India market has proven resilient with the closure of Jet Airways earlier this year. Growth in domestic RPKs (revenue passenger kilometers) have recovered strongly, lifting to a 7.9% year-on-year pace in June, as the remaining carriers moved quickly to fill the gap created by the loss of a competitor and to meet the customer demand.

Out of the 28 Indian cities from where international passengers Embark/ Disembark, Delhi accounts for highest international passenger traffic with a share of 26.6% in quarter one (Q1) of 2019. Five Indian cities accounted for most (approximately 70%) of the international passenger traffic, and after Delhi it was Mumbai (20.4 per cent share) and Chennai (8.8% share). After that was Bengaluru (7.0 %) and Kochi (6.6%). Domestic and foreign carriers connect India to 54 countries through 346 Routes. Out of these routes top 10 Routes accounted for approximately 20 per cent of the total international passenger traffic during the first quarter of the year 2019. Maximum international passengers were carried on the Dubai-Mumbai sector followed by Dubai-Delhi.

The average return fare in 2018 was 60% lower than in 1998, before taxes and surcharges, while the cost of air freight ($/Kg) was down 61% over the same period, stated Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, International Air Transport Association (IATA), in the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (2019 WATS), where they released performance figures for 2018 . He added that aviation is good for local economies too— $843 billion in tourism spending was made possible by air travel last year, while governments collected $129 billion in tax revenues from airlines and air travel.

In a bid to improve India’s airport structure, Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to invest about Rs 19,000 crore over the next three years, especially in small cities. According to a report, AAI official said the investment is being made in improving runway capacity as well as building terminal capacity. AAI is also working on plans to build new airports in Gujarat’s Rajkot, Jharkhand’s Dhalbhumgarh and in Hollongi and Halwara in the Northeast. “We are seeking funds from market through debt and other modes to fund these projects. Some of the funding will also come from our profits,” said an AAI official. Source: ET

The Indian aviation sector is witnessing phenomenal growth and there could be 2,000 planes in a short time, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said recently. He told the Lok Sabha that the country’s aviation sector is the third-largest in the world and there is an annual growth of 17%. “In 2008, the number of passengers stood at 117 million and now it is around 440 million. It is expected to touch 1 billion,” adds Puri. Source: PTI

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and partners welcomed passengers on board Vistara’s inaugural international flights from Delhi and Mumbai with a taste of Singaporean hospitality. The STB, together with tourism partners like Gardens by the Bay, Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa Development Corporation, Trick Eye Museum Singapore and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (comprising the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Safari and Jurong Bird Park) have put together value deals and discounts to popular attractions and experiences in Singapore. The discount vouchers are part of the welcome kits for Vistara’s passengers upon arrival in Singapore for the inaugural flights; and will continue to be distributed to passengers until 14 August 2019. Details of the discounts being offered can be found in the appended Fact Sheet.   Singapore received 1.44 million visitors from India in 2018, crossing the one million visitor mark for the fourth time in a row. India is also the third largest visitor source market for Singapore and has been able to retain its position as the top source market for cruise travel. The introduction of new flights from India will help more Indian travelers experience leisure, business and cruise travel to Singapore.   

Airlines across the world carried 4.4 billion passengers on scheduled services, an increase of 6.9 per cent over 2017, representing an additional 284 million trips by air, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which released performance figures for 2018 in the IATA World Air Transport Statistics (2019 WATS).  Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, IATA, stated, “The world’s airlines safely carried around 4.3 billion passengers last year, on some 126,000 daily flights connecting over 21,000 city pairs.”

The scheduled international passenger traffic for the first quarter (January-March) of the year 2019 stands at 16.4 million while the international passenger traffic for the corresponding period in the year 2018 stood at 15.8 million thereby witnessing a growth of 3.8 per cent, according to International Air Traffic Statistics revealed by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). It has been observed that all the three months of the first quarter of the year 2019 witnessed a positive growth in terms of the total number of international passengers carried as compared to the corresponding months in the first quarter of the year 2019