Category Archives: Aviation

Vistara has received its 21st aircraft, an Airbus A320neo powered by CFM engines and the airline is also eligible to start international operations now. The new aircraft will be deployed to further strengthen the airline’s domestic network. Leslie Thng, CEO, Vistara, said, “There’s great excitement amongst all of us at Vistara, as we prepare ourselves for taking the next leap in our journey to fly international. The arrival of our 21st aircraft makes this phase even more special. It enables us to strengthen our network further, which gives us the opportunity to offer more choices in terms of frequencies to our ever-growing base of loyal customers.” Vistara’s A320neo aircraft comes in its unique cabin configuration of 158 seats (8 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy and 126 Economy Class) as well as other industry-first features, for which the airline calls it #NotJustAnotherNeo. Vistara has consistently raised the bar in the Indian aviation industry and has flown over 9 million customers, and today serves 22 destinations with over 800 flights a week.

Air Odisha has started its services to Chhattisgarh from Andhra Pradesh, as it launched a flight to Jagdalpur from Visakhapatnam through Raipur. The services launched under the Udan regional connectivity scheme were inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing. “We are happy to announce the launch of our new routes in Chhattisgarh connecting with Andhra Pradesh. The UDAN scheme is an excellent scheme initiated under the flagship of our Honourable Prime Minister, Narendra Modi which would aid to the growth of the economy where a common man can also now travel more affordable and convenient way and we are delighted to be a part of this historic moment of nation’s aviation sector,”Shaishav Shah, Managing Director of Air Odisha’s & Executive Director of GSEC said. “In terms of outright benefits to the passengers and travellers, Raipur -Jagdalpur (288 km by road) travel time of 15 hours by train and 6 -7 hours by road shrinks to a mere 40 minutes that to at a cost of Rs 1,670,” the Air Odiaha said in a release. UDAN is to let the common citizens of the country fly by making the air travel affordable and widespread and Air Odisha is able to materialise this goal. With every passing month Air Odisha is adding more regions to its radar for better connectivity in the towns.  In this context commencement of regional connectivity scheme in towns like Jagdalpur, Raipur, Vizag continue to demonstrate Air Odisha’s growth.  

Cathay Pacific Airways recently celebrated its 10th year of passenger flight operations between Chennai and Hong Kong. Since flights were launched in 2008, more than 600,000 passengers have travelled from Chennai and approximately 39,000 tons of cargo have been carried. Cathay Pacific began passenger flights with four weekly flights in 2008 operating an Airbus 330-300 aircraft. In 2010, to meet the increasing demand from both business and leisure travellers, the airline expanded to daily operations. The airline has also launched bonus Asia Miles for every round trip or one way journey from Chennai to North America, Asia or Australia between June 15 and 15 August 2018. Rajesh Menon, Cathay Pacific’s Regional Sales and Marketing Manager – South Asia,  says, “We are delighted to have completed 10 successful years of operations from Chennai. We began with 4 weekly flights and in a few years were able to expand to daily flights due to the great potential Chennai offered. Our flights have catered to a wide segment of passengers that include corporate travellers, holiday makers, VFR traffic and students, travelling to the popular destinations of Hong Kong, San Francisco, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney to name a few. Chennai continues to hold tremendous opportunity with the growing economic developments in the state. We are excited about our future prospects and look forward to offering our passengers a life well-travelled with our products and services.”

Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of its 100th aircraft, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, once again leading the way in fleet expansion and modernisation in Africa. As part of Ethiopian Corporate Social Responsibility commitments, the new aircraft has ferried medical equipment from the Seattle-based NGO, Direct Relief, to St Paulos Hospital in Addis Ababa. The shipment includes surgical stools and other medical supplies to be used for both teaching and patient care. Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde GebreMariam, remarked, “It is an immense honour for all of us at Ethiopian to reach the milestone of 100 aircraft. This milestone is a continuation of our historical aviation leadership role in Africa and a testimony of the successful implementation of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth plan, Vision 2025. Over the years, Ethiopian has been investing heavily in fleet modernisation and expansion, which is one of the pillars of Vision 2025. Ethiopian was the first African Airline and second only to Japan to operate the B787 Dreamliner in 2012 and the first carrier in Africa to usher with the Airbus A350 XWB in 2016. Ethiopian was the first to avail jet service in the continent back in 1962, and operated the first African B767 in 1984, the first African B777-200LR in 2010, the first African B787-800 Dreamliner and B777-200 freighter in 2012 and the first African A350 in 2016 and the first African B787-9 aircraft in 2017. Ethiopian now operates one of the youngest and most modern 100 aircraft, with an average age of less than 5 years.

India has been projected to be the second fastest growing country in the world for passenger traffic by the Airports Council International (ACI) in its traffic forecasts between 2017-40. ACI has put Vietnam at the top position with a 8.4 per cent growth rate, followed by India at 7.5 per cent and Iran at 7.3 per cent. China has been placed at the 8th position with 5.9 per cent growth rate. In its forecasts, the ACI said by 2022, passenger traffic in emerging economies like India would surpass advanced economies. By 2040, international passenger traffic would attain parity with domestic traffic, meaning more and more number of people would travel off shore with heightened economic activities, it said. By 2022, passenger traffic in emerging economies would touch 5.4 billion, slightly ahead of advanced economies at 5.3 billion. Source: PTI

According to Airports Authority of India’s Annual Report 2016-17, aeronautical revenues for AAI are dominated by ANS charges (Route Navigation Facilities charges and Terminal Navigational Landing charges) whereas its non-aeronautical revenues come from commercial operations at airports like retail, F&B, car parking, other concessions and rentals in terminals and city side premises. Lease revenues from major airports like Mumbai, Delhi, etc accounts for significant contribution in AAI’s revenues. Contribution of cargo revenues to AAI’s total revenues remain marginal. AAI registered growth of more than 15 per cent and 22 per cent in its revenues and profits after tax respectively in the financial year 2016-17 as compared to the financial year 2015-16. Main factors for increase in revenue are increase in route navigational charges and terminal landing charges; increase in landing, housing and parking charges; increase in passenger service fee; increase in other revenue like trading concession, rent and services, cargo, UDF and other miscellaneous revenue.

Qatar Airways will soon move an application to launch a full-service airline in India for domestic operations, according to its chief Akbar Al Baker. He said the proposed airline would be fully financed by Qatar’s sovereign fund and would have Indians heading the board. Baker, who has been Qatar Airways’ Group Chief Executive for over two decades, was recently elected as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “We will move the application soon. I don’t know really by when because it (the process) takes time,” he told on the sidelines of the IATA Annual General Meeting when asked by when the application for a licence would be moved. Noting that the process is on track, he said the proposed carrier in India would be a full-service one and the investment would be done from the sovereign fund of Qatar’s official investment arm. Qatar Investment Authority manages the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar. It was set up in 2005 to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses and its assets under management are estimated at USD 335 billion, a lot of which have been invested overseas for a variety of purposes.  It was in March 2017 that Baker first mentioned about its plans for a carrier in India. Source:PTI

GoAir has announced the appointment of Cornelis Vrieswijk as the new Chief Executive Officer. He will be reporting to the Chairman, Managing Director and the Board of Directors of GoAir. Vrieswijk is a seasoned global executive and a consultant with over 25 years of experience in aviation and travel industry. He has rich experience in driving ventures, transitions, turnarounds and large-scale projects for diverse and multifaceted organisations with emphasis in aviation/travel and aircraft maintenance industry on a European Stage. He has significant expertise in international business development, operational streamlining, aircraft engineering & maintenance and process automation. Commenting on the occasion, Jeh Wadia, Managing Director, GoAir said, “Vrieswijk will work with the Board and leadership team to expand and implement a range of strategic initiatives to lead the airline into its next phase of growth. I am confident that Cor will help scale GoAir further and establish it as a most profitable low cost carrier in the highly competitive Indian market.” Commenting on his appointment, Vrieswijk said, “I am truly honoured to join this dynamic airline and see myself closely working with the entire GoAir team in realising its objectives. My primary focus will be to grow the airline to a strong position and modelling the desired changes for further growth and expansion.” Vrieswijk is a management graduate from Catholic University Nijmegen.

Bhubaneswar is set to get a second airport to reduce congestion at the existing one, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry. The airport registered a growth of 39.4 per cent in 2017-18 fiscal, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the country. “Identification of a suitable land to build a second airport near Khurda on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar has been initiated. The set-up process will be fast tracked. The new airport will traffic congestion while improving passenger convenience,” the ministry tweeted. Earlier this month, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had urged Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu to set up a new airport on the outskirts of the city as the existing airport was nearing saturation. “The airport, which was started in 1962, is near saturation and faces severe space and runway-related constraints. There is, thus, an urgent need to set up a new airport at Bhubaneswar given the tremendous growth potential of this smart city,” he had said in a letter to Prabhu. Source:PTI

In a bid to drive innovation to offer customer-centric products and service, Vistara has created a robot using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist customers, address their queries and entertain them. Called ‘RADA’, the robot will help the airline in offering a seamless experience and an ‘intuitively thoughtful’ on-ground service to its customers, keeping with the changing consumer behaviour. Initially, RADA will be placed at Vistara’s Signature Lounge at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 from July 5, 2018 to assist customers using the lounge before they board their flights. ‘RADA’ will be further developed over a period of time in terms of functionality and features for future use cases, after gauging customer feedback. Currently, the robot can scan boarding passes and further provide information on the terminal, departure gates, weather conditions of destination city, real time flight status as well as information about Vistara’s products and services. RADA can greet customers and interacts with them using basic hand movements, and can move around in the lounge on predefined pathways. Additionally, it can engage with kids and adults alike by playing games and other multimedia content such as songs and videos. Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara said, “Innovation is one of the core values engrained in the DNA of Vistara’s culture, which we have fostered within the organization in many ways. RADA is a manifestation of this endeavour. Vistara has disrupted the market through several innovations with the sole objective of redefining air travel in the country, while making its processes more robust and resources more effective.”