Category Archives: Aviation

Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) launches its first direct flight linking India and Azerbaijan, from Baku to New Delhi. The chartered flights will be carried out every Tuesday and Friday. Regular flights will soon be added to further support the growth of tourism interest between the countries. Azerbaijan continues to expand its network with flights now to 40 destinations in 30 countries, including seasonal flights. The Caucasus country is currently on the cusp of a tourism boom as it welcomed a record number of in-bound visitors spending more than USD 2 billion in 2018, making it one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world. The new route will depart from the Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and arrive in Baku via Terminal 1 of the Heydar Aliyev International Airport. Air tickets can be booked online at www.azal.az and purchased through the offices of Azal’s official agents.

Srilankan Airlines will now operate 18 flights a week between New Delhi and Colombo. Vipula Gunatilleka, CEO, Srilankan Airlines said, “The additional flight is the result of consistent growth in traffic flow between North India and Sri Lanka. I am sure this step will further enhance our reach into the Indian market.” Currently SriLankan Airlines operates a double daily flight from Delhi to Colombo. After the new addition, it will fly 4 times a week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday between the two capitals. This would make a total 8 flights a week flying on Delhi-Colombo route. In total , SriLankan Airlines has 127 departures in a week from across India to Colombo.

Indian tourists don’t have to convert the Indian rupee while shopping at Dubai duty free outlets as the currency will be be accepted at all three terminals of Dubai International Airport and at Al Maktoum Airport. While travelling abroad, residents of India are allowed to carry Rs 25,000. Earlier, Indian travellers had to convert the Rupee into Dollar, Dirham or Euro. However, the change will still be given in Dirham. The Indian rupee has become the 17th currency to be accepted for transaction at Dubai Duty-Free since its opening in December 1983.

Ministry of Defence has exempted the landing and parking charges for civil aircraft operating from IAF airfields under Regional Connectivity Scheme for 32 airfields and 5 Advanced Landing Grounds. In Joint user airfields, civil apron maintenance is done by Airport Authority of India and remaining airfield area (Runway and taxi tracks) maintenance is done by Indian Air Force. The details of exemption given with respect to the airfields/ALG is given below: 1. Adampur 2. Jammu 3. Agra 4. Jorhat 5. Ambala 6. Kalaikunda 7. Awantipur 8. Kargil 9. Allahabad 10. Kanpur (Chakeri) 11. Bagdogra 12. Pathankot 13. Bareilly 14. Pune 15. Bidar 16. Sarsawa 17. Bikaner (Nal) 18. Silchar 19. Bhatinda 20. Srinagar 21. Car Nicobar 22. Tezpur 23. Chandigarh 24. Thanjavur 25. Gorakhpur 26. Uttarlai 27. Darbhanga 28. Along (ALG) 29. Gwalior 30. Passighat (ALG) 31. Hashimara 32. Tuting (ALG) 33. Hindon 34. Walong (ALG) 35. Jamnagar 36. Ziro (ALG) 37. Jaisalmer

Flynas, headquartered in Riyadh, has launched a new direct flight between Riyadh and Delhi. The flight will operate five times a week- . Stefan Magiera, Senior Vice President- Commercial, Flynas, said, “Flynas has started flying five times a week from Delhi to Riyadh. In October, we will upgrade this flight to daily. Also, in July, we will increase flights between Hyderabad and Riyadh, currently twice a week to four times a week. This represents almost 300 per cent growth between India and Saudi Arabia, the finest network. This growth is only possible with partners and the support of our friends in India and I would like to say a big thank you to all our agents in this market who have supported us tremendously in the past. We are always trying to become better and improve ourselves by listening to our trade partners and I am very happy and proud to announce that we have joined the BSP in India, something that has been designed for the market and we are in BSP India.”

GoAir has inducted 50th aircraft to its fleet and is planning to add one aircraft each month to move forward aggressively. With an Airbus A320 Neo in its kitty, the budget carrier is aiming to touch 100 million passenger-mark in the next two years. The airline flew 13.55 lakh passengers in May, which is 11.1 percent of the total 122.07 lakh domestic passenger traffic in the month. Operating 270 daily flights connecting 24 domestic and four international destinations, the airline has remarkably doubled its fleet size in less than two years. “In 2016, we looked at an aggressive business strategy. That year we doubled our Airbus A320 aircraft order to 144 to accelerate our growth and at the same time staying profitable. Those goals continue to be our guiding principle from a business perspective,” Jeh Wadia, Managing Director & acting Chief Executive was quoted as in a statement.

The number of passengers flying from Visakhapatnam has been on the rise but there has not been a consequential  increase in the number of flights to cater to the demand. Recently, Alliance Air, proposed to withdraw its Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Vijayawada daily flight from July 16.  Vice President of Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers’ Association (APATA), Naresh Kumar said that there has been an annual increase of 20% in the number of passengers travelling by air. However, there has been no addition of aircraft. However, Vizag Airport Director, Prakash Reddy, talking to daily, says that there is no confirmation on the withdrawal of Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Vijayawada operations. Source: TOI

IndiGo has announced new flight cancellation and change charges effective from midnight of June 27 for domestic and international flight booking. The order includes a hike in particular categories by Rs 500, to modifications which are done in a three-day period before the flight’s departure. There is no hike, if a passenger is making the change four or more days in advance of the travel dates. The airline said in a statement, “The revision only applies if the change or cancellation is made within 0-3 days of the travel dates. The charges remain the same in case a passenger is making the change four or more days in advance of the travel dates. For domestic bookings, customers can make any changes or cancellations free of charge within 24 hours of booking, if booked at least 7 days before the travel dates.”

SpiceJet has recorded the highest Passenger Load Factor amongst all the domestic carriers in India, recording a 93.9 per cent PLF for the month of May, according to recent statistics revealed by DGCA. Closely following this number was GoAir with a PLF of 93.3 per cent, preceding IndiGo at 90.9 per cent. Fourth in line was Air Asia with 87.8 per cent, while Vistara recorded 85.6 per cent, which was followed by Air India at a PLF of 85 per cent.

SpiceJet will commence eight new daily international flights from Mumbai in July, offering connectivity to destinations including Riyadh, Dhaka and Jeddah. The flights on Mumbai-Dhaka-Mumbai route and Mumbai-Riyadh-Mumbai route will start from July 25 and August 15, respectively. Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet, said, “SpiceJet is the only Indian budget airline to operate to Saudi Arabia and our new flights to Riyadh and Jeddah should greatly benefit the thousands of pilgrims travelling from India.”